The China Competence Center (CCC) is a non-university research and service institution with expertise in China studies, intercultural China competence, cultural comparison and cooperation. It provides China competence e.g. to German universities and research institutions. Its trainers offer monthly trainings. The CCC also conducts surveys to determine the need for China competence. The main goal is to increase China competence and to make China cooperation more successful and sustainable.  The CCC publishes research results, conducts further surveys and studies on contemporary China and repeats studies conducted in Germany/Europe contrastively in China and vice versa.
 
Information and Training
The CCC links German and Chinese institutions, university staff, scholars and students. It offers China expertise in the form of low-threshold information services and higher-threshold intercultural training (including customized coaching), advocates for the expansion of China competence at German universities and research institutions and for more sustainable cooperation with China. The Center has expertise in Chinese studies (culture, philosophy, literature, history, society, politics, communication), Chinese language / translation / interpretation, evidence-based part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Taiji and in the Chinese health care system. Yi Song, an intercultural trainer, conducts about 24 trainings per year.
 
Expertise
The CCC offers China-related expertise to all areas of the German China Society and beyond (university-wide, Germany-wide and worldwide), as far as it is needed for research or teaching or for cooperation in science/teaching/business/politics. This includes conducting surveys in Chinese, for example on health effects of screen use or acceptance of evidence-based integrative medicine.
 
Added value
Immediate benefits will come especially from contrastive comparisons, such as results of the same surveys in China and Germany, as well as approaches to corona pandemic control, national health care systems, and their common challenges, such as ensuring health care in rural areas by attracting sufficient numbers of general practitioners.
 
Research
As one of the partners, the GCA participates with the CCC at the Chair of Theory of Medicine Prof. David Martin, Witten/Herdecke University 2021-2024 in the BMBF-funded research project "Analysis of the Social Credit System in the PRC and Scoring in Germany (SCHUFA et al.) to Promote European-Chinese Cooperation" ("Scoring", 01DO21004, funding amount about 0.5 million Euro), which is conducted by Witten/Herdecke University in association with Leuphana University.
 
In 2021-2022, the CCC will conduct a survey to determine the need for China competence for employees at universities and research institutions in NRW and will prepare a training offer and a scientific evaluation of "Regio-China" projects as part of an application.
 
Networking
The CCC houses a Chinese Studies library, the office of the "World Association of Chinese Studies" and holds the annual World Conference of Chinese Studies. It houses the office and archives of the German China Society, which are currently being digitized. Partners are:

• Centro Altiero Spinelli, Rome
• International Chinese Studies Centre, Changsha
• Jean Monnet Chair, Changsha
• International Postgraduate School of Humanities
• Institute of Multilevel Comparison, Rome/Chengdu/Changsha
• Red Hen Lab

Fellows
Senior Fellows: Margaret Chu, Ulrich Sollmann, Martin Warnke
Fellows: Ole Döring, Cord Eberspächer
Junior Fellows: Josefine Naton

Publications
The CCC hosts the editorial board of the following journals:

• Mitteilungsblatt [der Deutschen China-Gesellschaft] | Bulletin of the German China Association, since 1957, ISSN 1436-8048, E-ISSN 2750-4409
• European Journal of Sinology, since 2010, ISSN 2190-085X, E-ISSN 2510-2761
• European Journal of Chinese Studies, since 2018, ISSN 2626-9694, E-ISSN 2626-9708.

Recent publications

• Woesler, M (2022). "Digitization and cybernetics in China: the social credit system", Handbook of Digitization in Government and Administration. Springer
• Woesler, M, Warnke, M, Kettner, M, Lanfer, J (2019) "The Chinese Social Credit System: origin, political design, exoskeletal morality and comparisons to Western systems" European Journal of Chinese Studies 2:7-35
• Woesler, M, Warnke M (eds) (2022). Social cybernetics in statu nascendi. The genesis of the Chinese social credit system - source texts on the Chinese SCS. Berlin: Matthes & Seitz