Conference
China and Iran's Political and Cultural Relations
- Date
- Tuesday 18 December 2018 - Wednesday 19 December 2018
- Explanation
- 2 locations: - day 1 Lipsius 148 - day 2 Vrieshof 2, 002
- Location
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- Lipsius 148

Leiden University (LIAS) and the Center of Iranian Studies of Shanghai International Studies University Present
International Conference
China and Iran’s Political and Cultural Relations
Iran and China are separately subjects of a considerable amount of scholarly, media, political, diplomatic, and cultural attention. There are numerous scholarly events focused on these two countries separately every year. However, the two countries have rarely become a joint focus of scholarly analysis. There has never been a comprehensive conference solely focused on these two countries in the humanities. The aim of this conference is to bring these two highly significant countries as topics of research together, investigating the Sino-Iranian relations from multidisciplinary perspectives. Half of this conference will be dedicated to the International Relations and international political economy of the two countries and another half to cultural, artistic and literary exchanges and interactions between Chinese and Iranian civilizations.
December 18th, Lipsius Building 148 (Leiden University)
Day one
9.00 Coffee and tea
09.30 Opening: Nira Wickramasinghe (Scientific Director LIAS), Yang Li, Vice-President of Shanghai International Studies University
09.45 Introduction: Mohammadbagher Forough (Leiden University)
Panel One
Chair: Mohammadbagher Forough
10.00 Asghar Seyed-Gohrab (Leiden University)
China’s Image in Persian Culture:
The Role of Aesthetics in International Relations
10.30 Ren Jia (Shanghai International Studies University)
Sino-Iranian Economic and Trade Cooperation with the Development of the Belt and Road
11.00 Cheng Tong (Shanghai International Studies University)
A Research on the “Bao” Coins of the Salghurids in the Mongol Period
12.00 Lunch
Panel Two
Chair: Asghar Seyed-Gohrab
14.00 Muzaffer Şenel (Director, Center for Modern Turkish Studies, İstanbul)
Political Implications of Chinese-Iranian Relations on Turkey’s Foreign Policy
14.30 Hannah Deinsberger (LIAS, Leiden University)
The Geopolitical Imagination of Iran in the Chinese BRI: Corridor, Hub, or Both?
15.00 Mohammadbagher Forough (Leiden University)
Iran at the Intersection of Chinese and Indian Geo-economics
15.30 Coffee and tea
Panel Three
Chair: Cheng Tong
16:00 Ma Li Rong (Shanghai International Studies University)
Opportunities, Challenges and Countermeasures of Deepening China-Iran: Partnership under the Belt and Road Initiative
16:30 Wang Cheng (Shanghai International Studies University)
Re-Examination of the Authors and the Sources of “Hui Hui Yao Fang”
17:30 Drinks and Conference dinner for the invitees
December 19th, Vrieshof 2/002 (Leiden University)
Day Two
Panel Four
Chair: Noa Schonmann
10.00 Agha Bayramov (Groningen University)
The Multilateral Iran Nuclear Deal: the withdrawal of the US and the increasing role of China and EU
10.30 Yusen Yu (Heidelberg University)
Emergence of a Canon of Chinese Painting during the Timurid and Safavid Periods
11.00 William Figueroa (University of Pennsylvania)
Maoism and The Iranian Left
12.00 Lunch
Panel Five
Chair: Maaike Warnaar
14.00 Anahita Arian (Erfurt University)
Encountering the Siamese: XVII C. Safavid Practices of Knowledge Formation
14.30 Simon Theobald (Australian National University)
‘The quality is terrible’: The Dilemma of Chinese Market Expansion and Iranian middle Class Consumers
15:00 Guy Burton (LSE Middle East Center)
Abandoning “Win-Win”? Chinese strategy in response to the Saudi-Iranian rivalry in the Middle East
16:00 Closing remarks: Mohammadbagher Forough & Asghar Seyed-Gohrab