PhD candidate Rishuai Chen shares insights on Africa-China relations in Asia

PhD candidate Rishuai Chen had two enriching academic engagements in Asia in May, sharing his insights on Africa-China relations. On 15–16 May, he participated in the Chinese in Africa / Africans in China Research Network Conference and Symposium, at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. On 19 May he gave a guest lecture at the School of Art and Communication of Beijing Normal University (Zhuhai campus).

Critical reflections on Africa–China engagements
The conference was co-organised by Lingnan University in Hong Kong and several institutions and communities, such as The Chinese in Africa/Africans in China (CA/AC) Research Network. This is the world’s largest independent, interdisciplinary, research network dedicated to China-Africa engagements. Themed ‘Evolving Dynamics of Africa-China Relations and Re-imagining the Future’, the conference provided a platform for critical reflections on Africa–China engagements, focusing on geopolitical shifts, technological changes, and socio-cultural entanglements from both historical and contemporary perspectives.

African and Chinese traders navigating everyday trust
Together with Yiqiu Huang, a PhD candidate from the University of Hong Kong, Rishuai presented a co-authored paper that examines how African and Chinese traders navigate everyday trust in Guangzhou’s transnational trade environment. 'The research is partly derived from my PhD thesis, which deals with digital practices and transnational connectivity among African merchant migrants in China', Rishuai explains back in Leiden. 'The conference also marked an important occasion for mingling with scholars working from Asian perspectives on African Studies, a field that has been growing but remains underrepresented in global academic discourses.' 

Overuse of ethnography?
Rishuai's second engagement, at Beijing Normal University (Zhuhai campus), consisted of a lecture for approximately 80 master’s students specialising in media studies, documentary filmmaking, and film studies. Titled ‘Ethnography as Method? An Ethnographic Investigation of African Traders in Guangzhou’, the session traced the historical development of ethnography and focused particularly on recent academic critiques concerning its overuse across disciplines. 'I called for a return to ethnography in its own right: not merely as a method of data collection, but as a mode of writing, a form of action, and a collaborative process of knowledge production', he analyses the lecture.

Two-and-a-half hour lecture
The session, conducted in Chinese, consisted of a two-and-a-half-hour lecture followed by a 30-minute Q&A. Looking back on the lecture, Rishuai concludes it resonated strongly with the students and faculty staff involved in documentary production. 'They recognised significant overlaps between ethnographic reflexivity and their own creative practices. Several participants noted that it is both urgent and valuable to bring theoretical reflection to bear on these intuitive practices.'

Rishuai looks back on two rewarding opportunities to contribute to the cross-fertilisation of perspectives on African Studies and intellectual exchange beyond Europe.