Marina Rudyak

Marina Rudyak is a sinologist and academic at Heidelberg University specializing in China Studies and International Development. Her work focuses on China's role as a global development actor, including foreign aid policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and China's engagement in Africa and Central Asia. She holds a doctoral degree from Heidelberg University, where her dissertation examined the evolution of China's foreign aid system. Previously, she worked with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Beijing, managing regional economic cooperation projects.

Her research interests include global China dynamics, political ideology in China, and coded communication in Chinese politics. She advises governmental and NGO stakeholders on Chinese aid, BRI implications, and EU-China-Africa cooperation. She is founder of the blog china-aid-blog.com and an active member of networks like the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders and Global Diplomacy Lab.

Rudyak teaches courses on Chinese politics, economy, and development policy at Heidelberg University and other institutions, including seminars on China's economic cooperation with developing countries and the BRI. She is fluent in Russian, German, English, and Mandarin Chinese.

• Awards: Geschwister-Supp-Foundation PhD Scholarship, BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network Member
• Key Projects: Dissertation on China's foreign aid system, multi-country GIZ project on regional economic integration
• Publications: Over 30 articles on Chinese aid policy, BRI, and development finance, including chapters in the Handbook of the International Political Economy of China