Tim Summers

Dr Tim Summers is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for China Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). His research interests range from contemporary China and critical geopolitics / global political economy to China’s sub-national regions, especially southwest China and Hong Kong. He is the author of four books, Global China: A Critique of Chinese and Western Narratives (2025), China’s Hong Kong: the Politics of a Global City (2021/2019), China’s Regions in an Era of Globalization (2018) and Yunnan – A Chinese Bridgehead to Asia (2013). Tim has published in a range of academic journals, including Third World Quarterly, The Pacific Review, International Affairs, China Information, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Territory Politics Governance, The Journal of Contemporary China and Issues & Studies. 

Tim is an Affiliate at the Lau China Institute, King's College London. He was previously a (non-resident) Fellow at Chatham House for a decade, during which time he co-authored research papers on EU-China Innovation Relations (2018), EU-China 2025 (2017) and The Asia-Pacific Power Balance (2015), and was the sole author of Brexit: implications for EU-China relations (2017) and China’s Global Personality (2014). He has also written extensively on UK-China relations and British policy towards China (including Hong Kong). 

Tim is also an Assistant Professor (by courtesy) in the School of Governance and Policy Science, and a member of the Global China Research and the Policy Research programmes at CUHK. He has appeared regularly in the media, served as a reviewer for grant proposals, book publishers and academic journals, and as a PhD examiner.

Prior to taking his PhD, Tim was a British diplomat for 13 years, including a posting as Consul-General in Chongqing from 2004 to 2007, and five years in Hong Kong from 1996 to 2001. He speaks both Cantonese and Putonghua.