BCCN Lecture Series: AI Governance in China, Winter Term 2025/2026

The upcoming BCCN Lecture series features six lectures by leading scholars on various aspects of AI governance in China. The series is organized by the Berlin Contemporary China Network and Freie Universität Berlin, and supported by the SCRIPTS Cluster of Excellence.

Register here: 
fu-berlin.webex.com/webappng/sites/fu-berlin/webinar/webinarSeries/register/4a9b46cc059949ec85b7360d963cca0a

November 3, 2025, 12:15 – 13:45 CET
Jinghan Zeng (City University of Hong Kong): Security Dilemma and the US–China Generative AI Race

December 4, 2025, 14:15 – 15:45 CET
Hui Zhou and Genia Kostka (Freie Universität Berlin): From Virtual Assistants to Intimate Partners: Factors Driving Chatbot Adoption and How Users Develop Emotional Attachment to Chatbots

December 11, 2025, 18:15 – 19:45 CET
Angela Huyue Zhang (University of Southern California Gould School of Law): The Promise and Perils of China’s Regulation of Artificial Intelligence

December 18, 2025, 14:15 – 15:45 CET
Eddie Yang (Purdue University): Propaganda is Already Influencing Large Language Models: Evidence from Training Data, Audits, and Real-world Usage

January 15, 2026, 14:15 – 15:45 CET
Jeffrey Ding (George Washington University): Reputation Collectives: How International Industry Associations Influence China’s Safety Standards in High-Risk Technologies

January 22, 2026, 14:15 – 15:45 CET
David Y. Yang (Harvard University): Government as Venture Capitalists in AI

The first lecture (by Jinghan Zeng) will be held in a hybrid format, while all other lectures will be online only.

You can find more information on the Lecture Series here: https://berlincontemporarychinanetwork.org/bccn-lecture-series