Inaugural La Trobe University China Studies Oration to be delivered by former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd.

The title of the talk is “Reflections on the Australia-China Relationship" and the event will include a post oration book signing for Mr Rudd’s recent book “Not for the Faint-hearted: A Personal Reflection on Life, Politics and Purpose 1957-2007”.

The Honorable Kevin Rudd

Mr Rudd served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister (2007-2010, 2013) and as Foreign Minister (2010- 2012). He led Australia’s response during the GFC – the only major developed economy not to go into recession – and helped found the G20. A Senior Fellow with Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, he is undertaking a major research project on US China Relations. Mr Rudd is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Chatham House. He is a Distinguished Statesman with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, and was appointed to the Concordia Leadership Council. Mr Rudd is proficient in Mandarin Chinese and a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University. He co-authored a report of the UN Secretary General's High Level Panel on Global Sustainability and chairs the WEF's Global Agenda Council on Fragile States. Mr Rudd is the President of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

About the China Studies Research Centre

The former Centre for China Studies was established in 2007 as an initiative of La Trobe University, Peking University and Beijing Foreign Studies University of China. The Centre was originally intended to foster relations between the University and leading educational and research institutions in China. After an external review held in 2014, the Centre was repurposed to become a cutting edge research centre for China Studies at La Trobe University, and relaunched in 2016 as the China Studies Research Centre. As a key element in La Trobe University's China Strategy, the new research centre aims to:

• Promote and advance La Trobe's research strengths in China Studies

• Deliver high quality research outputs in China Studies

• Develop and enhance La Trobe's research reputation and expertise in China-related research across both Colleges

• Increase the University's capacity to win competitive research funding

• Provide intellectual leadership across the university

• foster research links with partners and institutions in Greater China