Research Assistant and Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Chinese Studies
Academic Career
Since 2026: Research Assistant and PhD Candidate, Chair of Greater China Studies, University of Tübingen
2025/26: Research Fellowship in the China Studies Programme, Department of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University (中山大学)
2025: Research stay, Department of Chinese Studies, University of Tübingen
2023: Master’s Degree in European Union-China: Culture and Economy, Autonomous University of Barcelona
2022/23: Research Fellowship, Department of East Asian Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona
2021: Bachelor’s Degree in East Asian Studies (Chinese studies), University of Sevilla
Research Focus
Julia Fernández García’s research focuses on labour migration from Mainland China to the Hong Kong SAR, with particular attention to how labour visa regimes shape migrants’ access to employment, mobility, and career opportunities. Her PhD project examines the experiences of tertiary-educated Mainland Chinese migrants and the ways in which institutional frameworks structure their trajectories within Hong Kong’s labour market. Her academic background shifted between socio-linguistics and labour studies. She wrote her bachelor’s dissertation on the cultural and sinographic environment surrounding nǚshū script (女书), before turning to working conditions and labour movements in China during her master’s studies. She is particularly interested in how labour market structures, policy frameworks, and sociopolitical dynamics shape migrant experiences under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework, and in how processes of individualisation influence migrants’ aspirations, agency, and strategies in navigating structural constraints.
