Dr. Ivica Bakota holds a master’s degree in philosophy and comparative literature from the University of Zagreb (Croatia) and has completed a sinology bachelor’s course in Zagreb and Ljubljana (Slovenia). He obtained his Ph.D. in international relations from Peking University (China). With a diverse academic background, Dr. Bakota has worked at the East European Research Center at Peking University and served as a non-resident fellow at the China-CEE Institute in Budapest. He has also conducted research at the Center for Study of Civilizations at Capital Normal University and collaborated with various Chinese and Croatian institutes and media outlets. Currently, Dr. Bakota holds the position of Assistant Professor at the History Department of Capital Normal University in Beijing and works as a researcher at the Institute of Global and Area Studies at CNU. He is a co-founder of the CroAsia Institute atthe Zagreb School of Economics and Management (Croatia), where he teaches several courses. He is proficient in Croatian, English, and Chinese, and his areas of expertise include the history of Chinese foreign relations, Sino-European relations, and political and social transformations in the (post-)socialist world. Dr. Bakota has authored the book “Social Transformations in ex-Yugoslav Countries” published by World Knowledge Publishing Press in Beijing (2020) and co-authored the book “The Cold War and the Transformation of Socialism,” Volume 8, published by Shanghai People’s Press in Shanghai (2019).Dr. Zvonimir Stopić is an accomplished scholar with a diverse academic background. He completed his studies in history and philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Croatia, in 2009. Subsequently, he obtained a Ph.D. in the history of international relations from Capital Normal University in Beijing in 2018. In 2020, he further enriched his expertise by completing a Mini-MBA in Crisis Management from the Luxembourg School of Business (LSB). Dr. Stopić’s research interests primarily center around Sino-Yugoslavian relations, the dynamics of the “Third World,” Cold War diplomacy, contemporary international relations of China, and area studies focusing on Southeast Europe. Currently, he serves as an assistant professor at Capital Normal University (CNU) and holds the position of Assistant Director at the university’s scientific institute, the Center for the Study of Civilizations (CSC) - Institute of Global and Area Studies (IGAS; 国别区域研究院). In Croatia, Dr. Stopić collaborates with the Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM), where he teaches courses on China and contributed to the establishment of the “CroaAsia Institute,” a center dedicated to China and Asia related studies. Between 2020 and 2022, Dr. Stopić served as a non-residential associate of the China-CEE Institute in Budapest. He has authored several publications, including the book “Silk, Dragons and Paper: Chinese Civilization, Culture and History” (Zagreb: Alfa, 2021) and the monograph “Revolutionaries, Revisionists, Dogmatists, Dogs and Madmen: China and Yugoslavia from 1948 until 1971” (Zagreb: Srednja Europa, 2022). Additionally, he served as the chief editor, alongside Jure Ramšak, Liang Zhanjun, and Jože Pirjevec, for the edited volume “China, Yugoslavia, and the Socialist Worldmaking: Convergences and Divergences” (Koper: Anales ZRS, 2023).Dr. Mato Njavro serves as the Dean of Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM) in Croatia. He also teaches at the Luxembourg School of Business and the University of St.Gallen in Switzerland. With a diverse academic and professional background, Dr. Njavro has worked at the St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia, in Singapore, where he served as a senior research fellow. He was also a lecturer at the Singapore Management University, where he taught a course on China’s economic development. Prior to joining the University of St. Gallen and Singapore Management University, Dr. Njavro was a visiting research fellow at Harvard University's Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences (IQSS). Dr. Njavro authored and co-authored several papers and case studies published by the Harvard Business School publishing. Dr. Njavro has earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in economics and finance from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. He earned his PhD in finance from University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. His professional experience includes working in the investment banking divisions of Lehman Brothers and Nomura in London.
