Dominik Mierzejewski is Associate Professor at the University of ¿ód¿, where he leads the Department of Asian Studies and the Centre for Asian Affairs (think-tank), specializing in China's political discourse, local China, and China's international behaviours. Mierzejewski studied at Shanghai International Studies University and was a visiting professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He is the author of China's Provinces and the Belt and Road Initiative (Routledge, 2021) and has published in journals such as Asian Affairs and the Journal of Contemporary China. He serves as a Principal investigator in grants supported by the Polish National Science Centre and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Poland. Jaros¿aw Jura is Assistant Professor at Lazarski University in Warsaw, specializing in China-Africa relations, Chinese soft power, and the global projection of Chinese influence. He has published on FDI spillovers, media representations, and political discourse in journals such as African Affairs and Journal of Contemporary China. He has conducted field research on China's presence in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Jura has contributed to research projects funded by the Polish National Science Centre, including studies on China's vertical multilateralism in the Global South, spillover effects of Chinese FDI in Africa, and China's diplomacy at the UN. Bartosz Kowalski is Associate Professor at the Department of Asian Studies of the University of ¿ód¿, Poland. His research explores China's foreign policy, particularly its engagement with Central and Eastern Europe and the Global South. He has published widely on China's regional diplomacy in Central and Eastern Europe and Chinese ideological narratives. He is the author of Relationality in China's Relations with Central and Eastern Europe: The Case of the Czech Republic in Polish (2024) and co-author of China's Selective Identities. State, Ideology and Culture (2019). Mario Esteban is Full Professor and Director of the Centre for East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Elcano Royal Institute. He was the President of the Spanish Association for East Asian Studies (2020-24), a visiting professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, and a visiting researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Chengchi National University. His most recent books are: Introducción a la China actual (2024) and China and International Norms: Evidence from the Belt and Road Initiative (Routledge, 2023).
