XU Liang

Assistant Professor, Peking University

PKUSSI Course:China and Africa: Global Encounters in History and Present

Liang Xu is an Assistant Professor at the Peking University School of International Studies and Secretary-General of the Peking University Center for African Studies. Liang’s research interests include Chinese diaspora in Africa, social and gender history of Africa, the political economy of African development, and international relations. Liang has a Ph.D. in African history from Harvard University (2010-2017). Liang received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations in 2005 from Peking University, where he also completed his first doctorate in International Relations in 2010. Liang’s dissertation project at Harvard examined the history of labor-intensive industrialization in South Africa’s former border areas with a particular focus on ethnic Chinese garment factories and Zulu women workers. It is titled “On the Edge of Capitalism: African Local States, Chinese Family Firms, and the Transformation of Industrial Labor.” Over the years, Liang’s research has been funded by various Harvard University grants, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French National Research Agency (ANR), the Government of Ghana, the Japan Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and the South African Millennium Trust.