China accommodates one fifth of the world’s population and has one of the fastest growing economies. These developments are resulting in the increase of China’s influence on world politics and security, which is still inadequately reflected in today’s economic and political world order. A process of redistribution of power has already started and China’s position is becoming more relevant in all fields of global governance.
While China’s market reforms and its integration into the global economy contribute to changes in the economic and social situation in many countries, the effects of globalization have at the same time brought dramatic changes to the lives of Chinese people.
The Heinrich Böll Stiftung (HBS) looks at both phenomena. On one hand we try to understand how market reform and globalization change economic and social patterns in China and on the other hand try to gain a deeper insight into the overall implications of global trade, transnational investments and exchange for China, Germany and their respective partner countries worldwide.
Examples of our project work include:
Sino – African Civil Society Dialogue
The Sino– African Civil Society Dialogue is a project jointly organised by HBS East & Horn of Africa and HBS China Office. In spring 2008, ten Chinese Africa experts from leading universities and thinktanks, were brought together with civil society representatives of 15 African countries in Nairobi to exchange views on Chinese engagement in Africa and identify areas which needed further research and debate. To date there had been no Sino-African exchange which included the voice of civil society. Since 2009 the HBS China office supports Chinese researchers to conduct field trips and joint research with African and European counterparts on the role of Europe and China in Africa, with the aim of continuing and deepening a global dialogue. The next conference with participants from Africa, China and Europe will be held in October 2010 in China.
Sino-German Media Dialogue
Monitoring and analysing the mutual perception of China and Germany is an integral part of the work of HBS in China. Taking the year of 2008 as an example, media and China experts from the Universities of Duisburg and Erfurt carried out an in depth analysis of the media coverage of China in ten opinion leading media outlets in Germany. About 9.000 articles and news reports have been documented and analysed. Scholars from the Shanghai University for International Studies analysed the responses which the German media coverage triggered in China. The purpose of the study is to provide a basis for a critical and constructive dialogue between German and Chinese scholars, politicans and media professionals. The results of the research were presented in Berlin in June 2010.
IFI Gender Audit and Advocacy
In 2008, the Beijing Zhongze Women Legal Consultant & Service Center and Gender Action (US-based) completed a gender audit on a sample of 50 infrastructure projects in China, which were funded by international finance institutions (IFI). An analysis was done on whether gender equality was addressed according to existing guidelines and a toolkit for Chinese NGOs was published in Chinese and English. It includes instructions and questionnaires in order to be used as a guide to conduct gender audits. Since then a team of researchers from the center has conducted 2 case studies at IFI project sites in different Chinese provinces to gather concrete data about the implementation of gender policies. The next step of this project will be the establishment of a mechanism, which brings together stakeholders of civil society, local authorities and the IFI during the assessment, planning, monitoring and evaluation process of infrastructure projects. The toolkit developed in this project can also be applied to environmental questions in a follow up.
