Prof. Shangyi Zhou is a renowned culture geographer based in China. She shared her research on urban community renewal in China using the famous community named Nanluoguxiang (NLGX) in Central Beijing. She emphasised the role of traditional culture in the process of renewal. Maintaining the historical and traditional styles of buildings, roads, and other elements of the community was the key theme of the first and the second stages of renewal. The third stage was based on a broader perspective to emphasise the role of culture at multiple (spatial and administrative) scales. The renewal was not just for the community anymore but functioned as a successful example at the municipal and national level to inform renewal projects across the country.

Prof. Fenghua Pan is a leading financial geographer based in China. He shared his research on Government-guided investment funds (GGIFs) in China. He investigated the use of GGIFs by Beijing Municipal Government. He used the theoretical perspective of the shareholding state to examine the spatial dynamics of GGIFs and then the actions of the key stakeholders including the government and the state-owned enterprises. The spatial dynamics suggested that GGIFs concentrated in certain innovative centres at the district level to promote the development of start-up companies. The use of GGIFs served the policy objectives of both the municipal and the national governments in terms of promoting the development of strategic industries and the infrastructure necessary for the industrial development. State-owned enterprises played an important role in managing GGIFs to help with government policy objectives.

Prof. Yang Cheng is a famous human geographer examining political and health issues from a geographical perspective. She shared her research on the accessibility to pediatric care services in Beijing. Beijing has been facing the situation of huge inflows of young migrants and it is urgently needed to examine the spatial accessibility of pediatric care services in the city, matching the policy priority of the Beijing government and the national government. Based on the census data at the street level and other supplementary data, she found that the accessibility in the urban centre was better than that in the peripheral areas, though over 98% of the children could get to an hospital within an hour. In some cases, the parents would deliberately select hospitals far away due to better reputation and specialised skills.