The 11th edition of “All India Conference of China Studies (AICCS)” organized by the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) and CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru in association with National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru was held at CHRIST (Deemed to be University) from 15th November to 17th November 2018. The ICS has been organising AICCS as a national level conference once every year for more than a decade. As an institution in the country dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of China, the ICS has always felt the need to observe and analyse developments of Chinese studies in India in order to identify research trends, to assess challenges faced by the discipline and to recommend institutional mechanisms to take Chinese studies forward. The three day conference, with the theme “Science, Technology and Innovation in China”, witnessed a range of presentations and discussions by eminent scholars and experts on the field. Dr. Shailesh Nayak , Distinguished Scientist, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India and Director, NIAS, Bengaluru was the Chief Guest for the event.

The first session of the 11th AICCS had a special panel dealing with the subject “State of the field on China Studies in India.” Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti, Vice Chairperson, ICS, Delhi and Convenor, 11th   AICCS chaired the session. The discussion comprised of scholars focusing on areas like international relations, foreign policy and security issues, society and culture, politics, economy and human development and emerging trends within Chinese Studies. The second session of the conference was dedicated to Defence and Security with Professor Arvind Kumar chairing the session. The session commenced with Prof. Arvind Kumar explaining how China is diversifying its application of innovation and technology by focussing both on outer-space as well as submarine missions. He further emphasized that strengthening of China’s defence system stems from their determination to follow an independent foreign policy.

The third session was chaired by Mr. Ravi Bhoothalingam, Honorary Fellow, ICS Delhi. Presenter Prof.V.S Ramamurthy presented on the topic ‘Science, Technology and Innovation in China, Lessons for India.’ Mr. V.S Ramamurthy is an Emeritus professor, National Institute of Advances Studies, Bengaluru. He discussed how China has developed its manufacturing sector into high technologies and China’s technology led growth in the last two decades based on the study of bruegel policy. The fourth session of the 11th AICCS had a panel discussing the “Salient aspects of China’s ‘New Era’ under Xi Jinping”. The session was chaired Ambassador C.V. Ranganathan, Emeritus Fellow, ICS, Delhi. The session focused on the change undertaken by Xi Jinping in China, and the evolution of China under his policies.

The fifth session was chaired by Amb. Nalin Surie, Distinguished Fellow, Delhi Policy Group, who marked the proceedings open with his remarks on China’s national core interest and distinctive style of diplomacy being the core features of the talks of thesession.  In the sixth session, the Chair Dr. Thampi began the session with answering the basic question regarding the need for an interest in archives, which can be attributed to their usefulness in tracing the history of the country.

The seventh session was on literature and society. The speakers discussed on the emerging trends in chinese literature that challenge the political regime. The eighth session was on economy and innovation. The speakers emphasized on the importance of the performance and survival rate of Indian companies in China and the need of analysing the same. This is important given the trade deficit numbers between the two countries in the fiscal year 2017 -18 which was $63 million – the highest for India. However, Chinese investment in India exceeds Indian investment in China by a massive margin – this with limited to no success in getting China to manufacture in India.

The ninth session was a special panel that included the United Board, Institute of Chinese Studies, Harvard-Yenching Institute and Christ University who together had an interactive session on Capacity building in China Studies in India. The tenth session was on innovation and artificial intelligence. The speakers examined how Artificial Intelligence (AI) was connected to International Relations and how China continues to revolutionize AI, thereby preparing themselves for a futuristic power politics in the form of a probable Global Tech War. The final session was a special panel that emphazised on doing fieldwork in China. It comprised of scholars and researchers who have done fieldwork in China, gave deep insights to the audience on the nature of fieldwork.

The valedictory session was chaired by Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti, Vice Chairperson, ICS and Convener, 11th AICCS. Valedictory Address was given by Dr. Anil Joseph Pinto, Registrar, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru. He talked about the betterment of education facilities in India being the need of the hour. As well as the introduction and development of China studies in the Indian education system. Dr. Avinash Godbole, OP Jindal Global University, gave an address welcoming the delegates to the 12th AICCS in 2019. Dr. N. Manoharan, Associate Professor, Department of International Studies and History, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru and Co-Convenor, 11th AICCS gave the vote of thanks with which the 3-day conference came to an end.