Our Impact

The Harvard China Fund supports scholarship and academic exchange between Harvard and Chinese researchers, with projects ranging from collaboration on China’s disabilities system to cutting edge research on climate change, partnerships focused on modernizing China’s medical system, and legal reform.

Stories

From student internships and summer school to faculty grants supporting cross-cultural academic exchange and U.S.-China collaboration, Harvard China Fund is working to promote dialogue and deeper U.S.-China understanding.

Promoting the Dignity of Disability in China

In 2008, professors at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability received a faculty grant to support their work in China. With the help of Dr. Fengming Cui, the Project has played an essential role in advancing Chinese disability laws, policies, and education.

Szonyi walking through a village in Yongtai county, Fujian province. Photo Credit: Zhang Peifen/張培奋.

A Scholar’s Journey Through Rural China’s History: Michael Szonyi reflects on his first trip back to China in four years

With the support of Harvard China Fund’s “(Re)engaging China” grant, Szonyi arrived in China in August 2023 after an almost four-year absence, the longest in my professional career and indeed my adult life.  Szonyi has been based at Xiamen University, where he studied as a graduate student and where he continues to collaborate with the Center for Local Historical Documents.  He’s been working on two main projects.

Experiencing Buddhist Transcendence Through Technology

“We wanted to create an experience that is awesome, beyond words,” says Eugene Wang, Abby Aldrich Professor of Asian Art at Harvard University. “We are using modern technology to capture multiple dimensions, to help us imagine a universe in which everything can transform into something else.”

Two cultivars of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) bring golden hues to the landscape

How a Tree Can Save U.S.-China Relations

Harvard China Fund in Action Along a wooded path, Ned Friedman is pointing out trees whose DNA originated in China: “A Chinese ginkgo,” he says, in front of a tree exploding with bright yellow, fan-shaped leaves. “We have one of the finest collections of ginkgoes from China in the world.” And then a rare maple