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Xiaoxue Weng

Former Researcher, Natural Resources

Full biography

Xiaoxue Weng's research focus on  natural resources governance, the informal economy and the evolving role of Chinese and other emerging market players in Africa. As a part of her work, she engages closely with Chinese and African policymakers in the natural resource sector as well as Chinese, African and international civil society organisations. She builds partnerships in China, Africa and Europe for IIED's work on Chinese overseas investment in the global South.   

Expertise

Natural resource governance; forests; informal economy; Chinese investments in Africa's land-use sectors; China's overseas investment policy framework.

Before IIED
  • Consultant, China-Africa project, CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research)
  • CSR specialist,  ECOLOGIA 

Education:

  • MSc in Environmental Change and Management, University of Oxford; BA in International Politics and Economics, Middlebury College 

Current work

  • Conducts research and policy engagement for the China-Africa Forest Governance Project, examining Chinese investments in the forestry and other land-use sectors that affect Africa's forests in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Uganda
  • Leads the Africa-China Informal Resources Trade (PDF) research project examining the role of small-scale Chinese investment in Africa's informal economy. The research focuses on the social and environmental implications of Chinese investments and trade in informal agriculture, mining and timber trade in Eastern and South-east Africa. Watch a short video here. 
  • Other research work related to China's role in Africa’s economic development 
Xiaoxue Weng's picture
Twitter: @XiaoxueWeng
ORCID
ResearchGate
Google Scholar
 
Languages: English, Mandarin Chinese (native), Japanese (native), Spanish (beginner) and German (beginner)

Xiaoxue Weng's blog posts

Farmers checking cotton plants in Eastern Zambia

Cotton at a crossroads

Photo story, Apr 2017
A logger poses with a small mukula tree cut from deep in the forest.

Saving trees or improving lives?

Photo story, Apr 2017
South Africa President Jacob Zuma speaks to China counterpart Xi Jinping at the FOCAC summit in Sandton, Johannesburg in 2015. China is increasingly influential in Africa (Photo: GCIS/GovernmentZA, Creative Commons, via Flickr)

CSR practices of Chinese businesses in the global South

Blog, Mar 2016
Chinese timber business in Mozambique (Photo: Mike Goldwater)

China-Africa trade and investment: benefiting Africa's rural informal economy?

Blog, Mar 2015
A Chinese journalist interviews fellow journalists in Kenya (Photo: YiDe Media)

China-Africa relations: Fresh perspectives from Chinese journalists on environmental challenges

Blog, May 2014
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