Workshop: Chinese Youth in the Digital Transformation Era

The era of digital transformation presents Chinese youth with both opportunities and challenges. Recent developments—the success of DeepSeek, the popularity of Ne Zha 2, and the migration of ‘TikTok refugees’ to RedNote—highlight these cultural and technological shifts. Meanwhile, groundbreaking innovation and intensified competition are reshaping the job market, industries, and work ethics. Join our workshop to learn how Chinese youth are navigating these changes.

Hosted by the HKU Centre on Contemporary China and the World, this event will begin with keynote speeches and will be followed by a panel. The first keynote, titled “Emerging Youth Groups: Pioneers in Shifting Values of the Workplace,” will be given by Dr. LI Chunling, Professor and Chief Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; CCCW Nonresident Senior Fellow. The second keynote, titled “Digital Boredom: Changing Youth Media Use,” will be given by Dr. Donna CHU, Director, School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK; Member of the Centre for Youth Studies, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies. JMSC Professor King-wa Fu will be moderating the session.

The following panel discussion will feature LU Yajun (Krystal), Dean, Bilibili Research Institute of Public Policy; GONG Shun, Associate Professor, Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; LI Chuang, Assistant Professor, Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and XU Youjiangyu, PhD Candidate, School of Sociology and Ethnology, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and will be moderated by Xiaoli TIAN, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, HKU.

RSVP and learn more here.