Valeria Lauria

BIO

Valeria Lauria is a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the European University Institute’s Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Her research lies at the intersection of international relations and international political economy, with a particular focus on China’s global influence, development financing, and African agency. She is currently leading a research project titled INFRAFRICA, which conducts a comparative analysis of two major infrastructure initiatives: China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the European Union’s Global Gateway. Focusing on Africa as the regional context, the project examines their respective financial architectures, operating models, and local-level impacts, with special attention to the role of local actors in implementation and governance dynamics.

Before joining the EUI, Valeria was a Boya Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Peking University, where she deepened her expertise in Chinese overseas investments and governance strategies. She earned her PhD through a joint programme between the International Institute of Social Studies and the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, where she investigated the socio-economic impacts of Chinese-backed infrastructure projects in Africa. During her doctoral studies, she was a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing and the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University.

Valeria also holds an MSc in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics and an MA in International Relations from the University of Roma Tre. She has previously worked with several international organisations and research institutes, including the OECD, UNDP-Ethiopia, UNIDO-China, UNICEF Bolivia, and Operation Asha India.

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