As the first year since the U.S. presidential election begins, we look forward to hosting a series of events in winter quarter to help us think through the prospective changes on the horizon for U.S.-China relations.

On Feb. 7, the Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward China, led by 21st Century China Center Chair Susan Shirk and Orville Schell from the Asia Society, will release a report after an intense, year-long discussion and review of U.S. policy toward China since 1979. The task force comprises academic experts and veteran policymakers from both Republican and Democratic administrations. Its findings and recommendations aim to advise the new administration and the public on what elements of U.S. strategy toward China should be retained and what should be adjusted. Then on March 7, we welcome former Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky to deliver the Fifth Annual Robert F. Ellsworth Memorial Lecture on the challenges facing U.S.-China trade and investment. Later in the year, the center will collaborate with Fudan University's Center for American Studies to hold the second U.S.-China University Think Tank Dialogue on Bilateral Relations.

Another initiative of the center is to establish a China Data Lab (CDL) that will integrate various data our faculty have collected and used in their research. The CDL will facilitate data-based research collaboration, meet the instructional and training needs in China-related data analytics and promote international exchange through a consortium of university-based data analytic centers in China and the U.S. Once established with secure funding, the CDL will support the pioneering social science research on China by our center scholars and their collaborators from China and elsewhere. On research, we continue to co-sponsor the research workshop series by the Fudan-UC Center, which spotlights current research by faculty, Ph.D. students and visiting researchers.

In fall quarter, we hosted a number of distinguished speakers, including the dean of Peking University's School of Government and political reform expert Yu Keping, who delivered our second Sokwanlok Distinguished Lecture on China's governance challenges. The annual China Town Hall held in cooperation with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, featured an engaging presentation by UC San Diego alumna Melanie Hart, of the Center for American Progress, at the Bishop's School in La Jolla. We also screened the documentary "Mr. Deng Goes to Washington," held a lively conversation on China's energy and environmental challenges and celebrated more than 30 years of UC San Diego's partnerships with China. For more goings-on, read China Focus's 2016 year-in-review of the top headlines about China and how they were covered at UC San Diego.

To stay up to date on our upcoming events, visit our website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and WeChat as "复'UUC" (ID: Fudan-UC-21CC), and be sure to tune in to our podcast, China 21!

Warmest regards,

Susan Shirk Chair, 21st Century China Center	Lei Guang Director, 21st Century China Center