China expert to speak at this year’s Guernsey Literary Festival Business Breakfast

Saturday 16 February 2019

Decisions taken in China - a modern economic super power - have an effect on us all, and one of the world’s foremost China watchers will be the guest speaker at this year’s Guernsey Literary Festival’s Business Breakfast in May.

Kerry Brown is Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College, London, and his latest book, The World According to Xi, is an up-to-date account of the impact and aims of arguably the world’s most powerful man, Xi Jinping.

Professor Brown is an associate Fellow on the Asia Pacific Programme at Chatham House, and will address the audience at the Breakfast, sponsored by Butterfield, on Friday 3 May at the OGH Hotel. He has written 15 books on modern China, and lectured on China in over 35 countries, and he knows that to understand modern China, you have to understand something about its leader.

Xi Jinping has been described as many things, the avuncular man of the people, the dictator, the innovator, the genius, the technocrat or as President Trump recently exclaimed the “president for life” but we know a lot less about him than we do about his American counterpart.

Professor Brown will guide his audience through the World According to Xi: his plans to make China the most powerful country on earth and to eradicate poverty for its citizens amongst many other bold moves. 

Paul Hodgson, Managing Director of Butterfield Trust (Guernsey) Limited, said: “Butterfield is proud to sponsor guest speaker, Professor Kerry Brown, at the Guernsey Literary Festival, which is such an important event in Guernsey, promoting literacy and inspiring readers of all ages. As an established writer, lecturer and one of the UK’s leading China experts, Professor Brown is sure to be a fascinating addition to the Festival."

The event will be introduced by Dominic Wheatley, Chief Executive, Guernsey Finance.

Continental breakfast and a copy of The World According to Xi are included in the ticket price of £25. Tickets are available from www.guernseyliteraryfestival.com. To book a table of 10, please email admin@guenseyliteraryfestival.com.

The Guernsey Literary Festival runs from 1 May to the 6 this year, and, as in previous years, it attracts a wide variety of authors, from novelists and poets, to presenters, business writers, travel writers and sports writers. 

Pictured top: Leading China watcher Professor Kerry Brown, who is the speaker at this year’s Guernsey Literary Festival’s Business Breakfast.