Quick Facts
Biography
Manuel Pérez García (born May 10, 1979 in Murcia, Spain) is University Professor of International Studies at the Renmin University of China. He received his B.A. History at the Department of Early Modern, Contemporary and American History at the University of Murcia, Spain, in 2002; his Ph.D. from European University Institute (EUI), Florence, Italy, in 2011 and his Postdoctoral Fellowship from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 2013. He is the founder and director of the Global History Network in China (GHN).
While he was completing his PhD, Manuel was a student of Jan de Vries at UCBerkeley. His PhD supervisor at the EUI was Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla and his mentor at Tsinghua University was Liu Beicheng.
He has been the first (European) researcher fully based in China to win a European Research Council (ERC) Grant. Dr. Pérez García was awarded the grant in December 2015 with his project "GECEM: Global Encounters between China and Europe: Trade Networks, Consumption and Cultural Exchanges in Macau and Marseille, 1680-1840", in which the Pablo de Olavide University (UPO) of Seville (Spain) acts as main European institution for this project.
At Renmin University of China he teaches Modern Economic Growth between China and Europe, International Relations between China and Europe and International Relations between China and Latin America.
Research
Pérez García's research is based on the analysis of the western presence, especially European trade networks in China during the Qing Dynasty, in order to see how western culture was perceived in China. Macao as a port city, in which people and goods from afar were circulated, can be defined as major place in which western culture penetrated in China. The current interest by western countries on China has fostered during last years new studies in Chinese culture, politics and rapid economic growth. The main questions are: what is the degree of knowledge of China by European society? Does really China want to jointly work with Europe in a common agenda? Since the arrival of European pioneers in China such as the Jesuit Matteo Ricci surely there have been some changes and points of common interest, but how can we explain the current massive presence of Chinese migrants in Europe and the low presence of European migrants in China?
Awards and honors
- ERC (European Research Council)-Starting Grant Award, Brussels (Europe), Brussels (Europe), 2016.
- Matteo Ricci Visiting Scholarship Award, School of International Relations, Università di Macerata (Italy), 2015.
- Foreign Ministry´s Scholarship for Visiting Professors, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, 2014.
- UKNA-Marie Curie Actions, International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University, 2013-2014.
- Foreign Ministry´s Scholarship for Visiting Professors, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, 2013.
- 52 Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation Grant, 2012-2013.
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship, School of Humanities, Tsinghua University, 2011-2013.
- Fellowship on European Mobility in Asia ('Argo Program' by the Spanish Government), 2011-2012.
- Full grant by the Spanish Government, Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia, 2006-2010.
- Research grant "Salvador Madariaga Awards" by the Spanish Government, M.A.E. (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores), 2009-2010.
- Full grant by the European University Institute to participate in the exchange program as Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, 2008-2009.
- Research grant "Salvador Madariaga Awards" by the Spanish Government, M.A.E. (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores), 2008-2009.
- Research grant "Salvador Madariaga Awards" by the Spanish Government, M.A.E. (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores), 2007-2008.
- Research grant "Salvador Madariaga Awards" by the Spanish Government, M.A.E. (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores), 2006-2007.