School of Social and Political Science

Description

The Centre of African Studies (CAS) is delighted to invite you to the following online talk:

'The Railpolitik: Leadership and Agency in Sino-African Infrastructure Development'

Speaker: Dr Yuan Wang, Associate Professor of International Relations at the National School of Development, Peking University

My book, The Railpolitik: Leadership and Agency in Sino-African Infrastructure Development (Oxford University Press), investigates the interactions between Chinese state actors and African politics. In particular, I ask how do African politics affects foreign infrastructure projects? And what explains the variation of African state effectiveness in foreign engagement and public goods delivery? I argue that the agency of African leaders is the central factor that determines Chinese-sponsored railway delivery. They serve as the political champions to actively solve or circumvent obstacles plaguing the efforts of actors towards the delivery of public goods. I find that political championship can be generated not only from centralized developmental states, but also from leaders’ perceived threats of competitive elections in democratic states. Drawing on over 250 elite interviews collected in Angola, China, Ethiopia and Kenya, I use rigorous process tracing to evaluate the political championship theory and two competing explanations, Chinese agency and African bureaucratic capacity.

When: Wednesday 28th January 2026 (4-5.30pm) GMT

Where: Online via Zoom

Format: Online only

Register your attendance via Eventbrite

Speaker Biography

I am Assistant Professor of International Relations at the National School of Development, Peking University. Previously I served as Assistant Professor of International Relations for three years at Duke Kunshan University. My teaching and research interests include global China, African politics, and comparative political economy of development.

I completed DPhil in Politics at the University of Oxford. I hold a Master of Science (MSc) in Politics Research from Oxford, a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelor of Law in international relations from Shanghai International Studies University. I was the 2021-22 fellow at the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program and Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University. Before Oxford, I served in the China office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and at the Sino-Africa Centre of Excellence Foundation Nairobi office.