Recently, the international academic conference “Sino-Irish Relations and Ireland’s Place in the World: A Multidisciplinary Conference” has been held in Beijing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland. During the conference, as part of the book launches of the Irish Studies Network, visiting professor Jerusha McCormack from University College Dublin launched her new book “The Irish and China: Encounters and Exchanges”.

In June 2009, Professor Jerusha McCormack edited the book The Irish and China to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland. It is the first seminal work exploring the relationship between the two peoples and was translated and published in Chinese by the Irish Studies Centre of Beijing Foreign Studies University. The Irish and China: Encounters and Exchanges, published by The Irish New Island in 2019, is a sequel to the book and contains 10 articles. It has received funding from the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Chinese version has also been finished. The authors further reveal that although the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between China and Ireland is only a few decades, the exchanges and cooperation between the peoples of two countries have a long history. The articles in this new book discuss the exchanges of literature, art, philosophy, science and technology between the two countries, such as the influence of Taoism in Ireland and the popularity of James Joyce and River Dance in China. Professor Chen Li from the Irish Studies centre, BFSU, contributed to the collection her article "Irish Studies in China". Irish President Higgins wrote a preface to the book.