2024
Zhang Rui, Senior Editor, Tencent News, Beijing. Rui is an editor and writer at Tencent News, China’s largest online news platform. Over a decade in journalism, he has made his mark and won awards for focusing on the struggles of ordinary people, shining a light on injustices and issues affecting marginalised groups. He is driven by his admiration of resilience in the face of adversity. Memorably, in Shenzhen, he met factory workers who wrote poetry to describe their pain and impoverished lot in life.
Wei Xing, Deputy Editor, Pear Video, Shanghai. Wei Xing co-founded Pear Video, which crowdsources content from a network of citizen journalists. He runs the newsroom and is responsible for the quality of the content. Deeply concerned about misinformation, he considers fact-checking “a new form of journalism”. He founded China Fact Check, recruiting and training an online team of volunteers to spot, examine false claims and write fact-checking reports. He also published The Fact-Checking Handbook in simplified Chinese.
2023
Yang Nan, Senior Journalist, Southern Weekly Group, Shanghai. In her seven years in journalism, Nan became the youngest winner of the influential Southern Weekly Group’s best journalist and best report awards for revealing the facts behind public emergencies. She made her mark covering the Covid-19 pandemic close-up in Wuhan and globally over the past three years. Earlier this year she spent three weeks covering the devastation wreaked by the earthquake which hit Turkey.
2022
Hatty Liu, Managing Editor, The World of Chinese, Beijing. Leading her team at The World of Chinese, a bimonthly English-language magazine covering contemporary issues in China, Hatty has worked to make the magazine stand out for its longform journalism. Her interests are hiking, blues music and dance, and running.
2021
Lu Mei Hui, Chief Reporter, People Magazine, Beijing. Mihoo is an award-winning writer who focuses on various aspects of Chinese society. She is keen to understand how various countries responded to Covid-19 and the pandemic’s long-term impact on the world, future crises and possible responses. Her interests are movies, nature documentaries, animals and travelling.
Jane Yuan, Editor, Hurun Report, Shanghai. Jane has gained a reputation and following for tracking China’s high net worth individuals for her publication, the Hurun Report. She has been described as “a walking encyclopedia of China’s upper class”. She enjoys reading, movies and yoga.
2019
Zhang Yan, Senior Reporter, China Economic Times. A journalist for 12 years, Zhang Yan covers public health, including tobacco control, as well as financial and environmental issues. He has won several awards for his stories. His interests are reading and travelling. He is also known as Daniel. While in Singapore he wants to examine how to protect the privacy of individuals in the age of fintech and the effect of fintech on insurance and the public health sector.
Zhao Changyu, Editor, Hangzhou TV, Hangzhou Culture Broadcasting and TV Group. A journalist for more than nine years, Changyu specialises in education and legal issues. She is keen to explore new ways to reach audiences given the explosion of new media. For her AJF project she wants to find out how to improve the quality of news content, and the ways journalists can design new products that connect with audiences. Her interests are playing the piano, classical music, yoga, and travelling.
2018
Liu Dong is a senior reporter in the international section of The Paper, which is part of the Shanghai United Media Group and based in Shanghai. He is interested in Singapore’s leadership transition and hopes to learn about the ruling People’s Action Party’s fourth generation team and the process of identifying the country’s next prime minister. Dong, who was born and raised in Shanghai, likes reading, swimming and travelling.
Juliet Zhang Yuanyuan is a journalist with the mass-circulation Nanjing Daily and based in Nanjing, in China’s Jiangsu province. She has won numerous awards for her reporting. She has reported on legal issues, including the need to improve the protection of children. She has also focused on environmental issues, particularly the conservation of wild birds. Juliet’s pastimes include watching movies and Lego. Her AJF research project is on fake news.
2017
Sophia Huang Xueqin is a special correspondent for Southern Metropolis Weekly in Guangzhou and has distinguished herself reporting on social issues and disadvantaged groups in China and abroad. She has written about children with autism, the illegal ivory trade’s toll on elephants in Africa and Cambodians living with the menace of landmines. She wants to research Singapore’s approach to dealing with garbage and draw lessons for China.
Jing Jiang is a journalist for Science & Technology Daily, Beijing. She remembers the SARS outbreak of 2003 as a period when fake news and rumours swirled in China as the death toll rose and people grew desperate. That moved her to become a science journalist dedicated to getting the facts to the public. The award-winning writer has covered the environment, pollution and the push for new-energy vehicles. While in Singapore she wants to examine the latest developments in autonomous vehicles.
2016
Yan Dingfei (Hu Jianlong). Freelancer, Guangzhou. Jianlong has worked as a reporter in China for the Guangdong news organisation Southern Weekly, Caijing Magazine and the Beijing Bureau of Southern Daily. He wants to examine the significance of the China-Singapore Economic Corridor, gathering the views of experts and observers.
Li Jiajia. Producer and host, Guangdong Satellite TV, Guangzhou. Jiajia started out as a business reporter before she moved to TV and went on to host a TV show that delivered high-profile, impactful programmes including interviews with controversial personalities. She wants to research and write a policy paper on how the media, especially new media, can help improve human rights and democracies.
2013
Chao Sun. Editor-in-chief of influential magazine China Economic Report and the annual economic yearbook, Almanac of China’s Economy, Beijing. Project: The feasibility and structure of a new English digital magazine for global audience who are interested in Asia.
Li Jie. Reporter at Phoenix Satellite Television, Beijing, reporting on China’s political and diplomacy issues for its 24-hour news channel, InfoNews. Project: Chinese language media in Singapore.
2012
Gu Yinghua. Chief editor of website, www.smgbb.cn, Shanghai Media Group, (Chinese), Shanghai. Former chief journalist of Youth Daily, Shanghai. Project: Social TV.
2011
Li Jun. Investigative reporter, Southern Metropolis Daily, Guangzhou. Writes on Taiwan and other issues. Also works on media and gender issues. Topic: Governance in China and Singapore.
2010
Fan Ming. Beijing-based CCTV senior producer working on “News Probe”, an investigative news programme. Has won national awards for her documentaries. Plans to research TV interview shows.
Shen Yuan-an. Covers the movie industry for the influential Guangzhou Daily. Has published a book on China’s movie industry. Wants to research Singapore film.
2009
Ju Jing. Senior Reporter at Southern Weekly (Chinese), Shanghai. Plans to research urban planning and cultural protection.
Doris Lee. Senior journalist at South Metropolitan Daily (Chinese), Guangzhou. Plans to research the media adapting to the internet.