Who I am
Born and raised in the remote areas of China, I experienced life as a farmer (or 知青), a PLA soldier, and a blue-collar worker before pursuing multidisciplinary training courses in China and the UK. Since 1995, I have built an academic career specialising in transdisciplinary research, platform building, and international cooperation in areas such as rural sustainability and entrepreneurship, agricultural research and innovation, early career researcher training, higher education transitions, global seafarers and Chinese diasporas.
I have also worked as a consultant for the EU, ILO, IOM, and governments of Italy, UK and China, contributing to various stakeholder-engaged projects. These initiatives focused on university-community partnerships for Chinese community cohesion and the integration of Chinese international students and migrant workers in the UK and Europe.
In the new chapter of my retirement in January 2025, I will continue my research and collaboration with interested individuals and institutions to advance transdisciplinary methodology, support early career researcher training, and co-authored publications. My focus remains on agricultural R & I system transformation, inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship, and rural sustainability in the Global South, along with other areas of my expertise.
Currently I am
Associate Researcher at Nottingham University Business School (NUBS)
Associate Member of The Centre for Food Policy and Foresight at the University of Nottingham (UoN）
Adjunct Professor of China Agricultural University (CAU)
My academia journey
My three decades’ career in the UK can be characterised by three roles: researcher, explorer, and supporter. As a researcher, I have developed a strong profile in rural innovation and entrepreneurship, beginning with a focus on farmer innovation. This work culminated in the monograph Sustainable Development in Rural China (2003), farmer innovation circles (2004), farmer innovation diffusion (2013), farmer innovation systems (2018). Over time, my research has extended to include topics such as government intervention (2020), reverse entrepreneurship (2022); cooperative development (2023), community transformation (2024), and, most recently, transformation of agricultural research and innovation system (2025).
I have conducted methodological experiments and extended an embedding research across various contexts, particularly in the domains of international migration and rural development. For the former, key initiatives include: a UoN-ILO Workshop on the employment conditions of Chinese migrant workers (2009), a training course for global citizenship and university students’ community engagement, and a REF impact case titled Engagement with Chinese migrant integration in the UK and beyond (2014).
In the context of rural development domain, my work includes: a GCRF polit project focusing on Cooperative ecosystem to empower small farmers in China (2020), a UK-China early career researchers’ training course on System innovation for food security and rural sustainability in China (2021), and a joint research report on UK-China Cooperation in Agricultural Research and Innovation (2023).
These experiences have led to the creation of several platforms aimed at facilitating international cooperation in transdisciplinary research and training projects, including: Farmer innovation system in the Loess Plateau (2010-) and Consortium of Future Rural Studies (2022-).
