Biography
Dr. Marina Rudyak studies how China defines its role in the world and how its concepts of order, development, and international cooperation translate into concrete policies.
The focus is on the phenomenon of "Global China" and the strategies the country is using to expand its political and ideological influence.
Particular emphasis is placed on China’s development cooperation and its relations with the Global South—especially in Africa and Central Asia—its relations with Russia, as well as the political narratives and communication strategies of the Communist Party of China.
Current Position
Marina Rudyak is currently a visiting scholar at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School. During her stay in the United States, she is examining China’s strategic narratives toward the Global South and their impact on global governance and transatlantic policies toward China.
She is a co-founder and co-managing director of the Decoding China Project, which analyzes how key concepts of international cooperation are used in official Chinese discourse. She has been a member of the editorial team of the journal Pluriversal International Relations since 2025.
Marina Rudyak studied modern and classical Sinology as well as public law in Heidelberg and Shanghai. After graduating in 2009, she worked for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Beijing, where she managed programs focused on regional economic cooperation.
In 2014, she returned to Heidelberg University to pursue a Ph.D. on China’s development aid, combining her practical experience with academic research. Her dissertation on the development of China’s foreign aid system was awarded summa cum laude in 2020.
Between 2022 and 2024, she held visiting professorships at the universities of Frankfurt and Göttingen. Her research stays took her to the College of William & Mary and Yale Law School, among other institutions.
Academic Background
In addition to her academic work, Marina Rudyak regularly comments on Chinese politics in leading German and international media outlets. She writes the column “World Power Games” in the Geoeconomics section of the Süddeutsche Zeitung and advises German and European institutions as well as nongovernmental organizations on issues related to Chinese foreign and development policy.
Public Engagement and Consultation
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