Global Chinese Internets: Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) 24
Date
June 8 and June 9 2027, a Post-ICA Conference
Organisers
Dr Carwyn Morris (SOAS University of London)
Dr Lianrui Jia (University of Sheffield)
Dr Oscar Zhou (University of Kent, London and South East University Group)
Hosts
Department of Media Studies, SOAS University of London
SOAS China Institute, SOAS University of London
Venue
SOAS University of London, Russell Square, London
Call for Papers
China is a global actor, whether viewed from a geopolitical perspective, through overseas aid and investment, or via the global mobility of its people. As individuals travel from or engage with China, they interact with a variety of digital worlds: using Chinese platforms and technologies to navigate everyday life, interacting in digital spaces beyond China's digital territory, and leveraging platforms owned by Chinese companies as bridging spaces for global connectivity. With this in mind, CIRC 24 will explore global Chinese internets as an ICA post-conference.
To do so, this CIRC asks applicants to consider emerging discourses around global China (Lee, 2022; Franceschini and Loubere, 2022), the digitized aspects of migration and diaspora (Sun and Yu, 2022; Morris and Cong, 2024; Kang and Yu, 2026), the impact of Chinese companies and AI technologies on global communication processes (Kaye et al., 2022), and the globalization of Chinese internet trends, such as wanghong (Abidin, 2025). Just as understanding contemporary China requires looking at its global actions, the same is true for its digital dimensions. What does a global digital China look like? How does it act? Who is involved? And what role will Chinese AI play?
Silicon Valley, Silicon Savannah, and Chilean silicon mines are all parts of Chinese internets (Chen, 2026; Pollio, 2026). We believe analyzing Chinese internets offers key insights into both domestic and global digital relations, as China remains a major driver of digital change domestic and global digital relations, as China remains a major driver of digital change worldwide. CIRC 24 encourages exploration of Chinese internet culture, media and technology companies, and the ways Chinese digital products, platforms, and AI systems "go out." As China "goes out," it is also received, and that reception may manifest as a range of uncertainties, sanctions, investment opportunities, anxieties, and contestation, alongside the emergence of new cultural trends, such as "Chinamaxxing." This CIRC encourages reflection on how "going out" functions, what stays, what remains, and what changes.
Understanding Chinese internets means engaging with silicon mining (Gonzalez-Vicente, 2012), considering the expansion of Chinese phone companies across Africa (Lu, 2020), examining the role of Chinese technology in the energy transition, and exploring the impact of China's open source AI models. These developments occur simultaneously and often in seemingly contradictory ways, revealing multiple possible futures for Chinese internets and multiple pathways towards global engagement. With this broad remit in mind, CIRC 24 centres China as a global actor and encourages participants to examine how Chinese internets and digital China are implicated in both small- and large-scale phenomena around the world. It asks how we can better understand China and its internets by looking at what they do beyond the borders of the PRC. These digital futures are planetary, extending far beyond a simple US-China binary, and this CIRC is interested in the disruptions (Zhang et al., 2020) and (dis)connections that emerge as China shifts from being the world's factory to becoming the world's infrastructure.
We welcome submissions addressing the following topics from a perspective that reflects on China as a global actor:
1. Histories and evolution of Chinese internets as a global internets
2. Chinese digital infrastructures and the making of global internets
3. Chinese digital companies, platforms, and technologies as or becoming global actors
4. China's role in national, regional, and local digital economies
5. Digital governance, sovereignty, and regulation around the world
6. Geopolitics and governance of global internets
7. Global internets and domestic Chinese politics or activism
8. Migration and connectivity to, from, and within China
9. Chinese digital culture in global perspective
10. The globalization, reception, and contestation of Chinese internet cultures
11. Global dimensions of Chinese AI development and deployment
12. Chinese open-source AI models and ecosystems
13. Chinese technologies and urban, rural, smart, or green development
14. Resource extraction, infrastructure, and the materiality of Chinese internets
15. Planetary digital futures beyond the US-China binary
16. Rural digital transformation in and beyond China
17. Digital collaboration between China and the world
18. Chinese digital technologies and cultural heritage
We accept the following submissions; Individual Paper, with submissions included in a four-person panel with 15-minute per speaker; Organised Panel, with four papers and an organiser; Alternative Format, a conference stream for non-standard formats that offer more interactive experiences.
Delegates may submit and present ONE paper at the conference, either as an Individual Paper or within an Organised Panel. Delegates may also make ONE additional contribution, either acting as corresponding organiser for, and Chairing, an Organised Panel, or participating in an Alternative Format as a corresponding organiser or regular member. Please submit each contribution separately.
A corresponding organiser may present their ONE paper in their own Organised Panel. In this case, we will support the organiser in finding another Chair.
Submission
Please submit through this link or scan the QR code. We will not accept emailed submissions.
Sponsors
European Research Council Starting Grant 101166145
Financial Assistance
There will be a limited number of accommodation bursaries for doctoral students and early career researchers (those within three years of PhD completion on temporary contracts, between contracts, or with no conference funds).
Accommodation bursaries will cover three nights stay in London in a twin-room. Information about bursaries will be provided to accepted papers.
Publications
We are collaborating with various journals and publishers to support routes to publication. If you are a journal editor or publisher and would be interested in having a presence at the event, please get in contact.
Application Deadline
November 30 2026 (UK Time 23.59)
Contact
For any questions, please email 2027circ@gmail.com. We will only accept abstract and session submissions through this form.