EVENTS

The All India Conference of China Studies (AICCS) is the flagship event of the ICS, convened annually every November/December, with the principal objective of spreading interest in and strengthening research on China and East Asian Studies in India. Each conference has a special theme and the 11^th edition of the conference focused on “Science, Technology and Innovation in China”. The conference was organized in collaboration with CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru and in cooperation with the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, at the main campus of CHRIST in Bengaluru, from 15-17 November 2018. Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti, Vice-Chairperson, ICS was the convenor and Dr. N. Manoharan, Associate Professor, Department of International Studies and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, was the Co-Convenor.

The inaugural session started by paying homage to Prof. Huang I-shu, Emeritus Fellow, ICS, and one of the leading lights in instituting China studies in India, who passed away on the eve of the conference. The keynote address at the conference’s inaugural session was done by Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Director, NIAS, who spoke at length on the need for cooperation with China to advance science and technology to meet challenges like climate change, environmental degradation and disaster management.

The papers for the conference came through a rigorous selection process in two stages. In response to our call for papers, 106 abstracts were received, out of which 60 were shortlisted. 23 full-fledged papers were selected for presentation at the conference, which was undertaken in five thematic sessions. Three of the authors made their presentations through skype, since they were unable to attend in person at Bengaluru. 

After the 10^th AICCS in Goa, we had reviewed the experience of the last decade and decided to make special efforts to reinforce the representative and all-India character of the AICCS and also develop it further as the premier annual forum for upcoming and established China scholars of India to share their work and research findings. Accordingly, in addition to the selected papers for thematic sessions, we organized special panels on the state of the field on China studies in India, archival research, fieldwork in China, capacity building as well as science, technology and innovation in China at the 11^thAICCS. Altogether, scholars from as many as 25 institutions presented papers and spoke at this conference.

The 12^th edition of the AICCS will be organized in partnership with the OP Jindal Global University (JGU) at the JGU campus in Sonipat in late-November/early-December 2019.