China Focus is thrilled to announce the 2024 China Focus Essay Contest. This year’s contest is organized by China Focus and is jointly hosted by the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China, the 1990 Institute, The Carter Center, and the 21st Century China Center. 

We will accept both Chinese and English submissions. The contest offers two topics and awards two prizes of $1,000 and four runner-up prizes of $500.

Award winners will grant China Focus and co-sponsors the right to publish their essays on their respective platforms or in their publications. Winners may then be contacted with additional award opportunities to transform their essays into teaching materials and also to discuss their work with a panel of experts during the summer.

2024 ESSAY TOPICS (CHOOSE ONLY ONE):

Topic 1: China has positioned itself as a potential mediator in conflicts like the Russo-Ukrainian War and the conflicts in the Middle-East. How would you define China’s track record in its mediation? Evaluate Chinese success so far and the geopolitical implications and potential obstacles surrounding China’s newfound role as an international mediator.

Topic 2: The U.S. and China have had an ongoing exchange of students and migrants for years as a product of increasingly globalized education and labor markets. How does the flow of U.S.-Chinese populations influence U.S.-China relations? To what extent can these population flows and ensuing people-to-people ties help to stabilize the relationship?

CONTEST REQUIREMENTS

The contest is open to undergraduate and graduate students. Each entry must be the original work of students enrolled during the 2023-24 academic year as well as students who graduated after May 2023. We especially welcome submissions by students from U.S. and Chinese universities. Collaborative projects are encouraged, but prize money must be split among collaborators. Entries can be in either English or Chinese.

Essays should be written in op-ed style, with references provided as appropriate but no need for detailed footnotes, with a length of up to 2,500 words in English and 3,000 in Chinese.

Each entry will be reviewed by a panel of judges drawn from the China Focus board of advisers, experts in U.S.-China relations from the 21st Century China Center, and others with relevant expertise.

CONTEST PRIZES

Two equal $1,000 prizes for contest winners, the 1990 Institute Prize and the Jimmy Carter Prize, will be awarded. Four runner-up essays will also be selected to win $500 each.

Winners will be selected on quality without regard to the question addressed in the essay. Essay winners may then be contacted with additional award opportunities entailing transforming their essays into teaching materials and/or discussing their essay themes with experts on a panel event during the summer.

CONTEST DEADLINE

April 12th, 2024, 11:59 PM PST

PREVIOUS WINNERS

View the 2023 winning essays here (Chinese) or here (English).