Malin Oud is a China expert with over 25 years’ experience in the field of human rights, rule of law and sustainable development. She is co-founder and managing director of The Decoding China Project and works as an analyst and strategic advisor. Additionally, Oud serves as vice chair in the Swedish Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA) and on several advisory boards, including the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and the Solar Stewardship Initiative.

Previously, Oud served as the director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute’s (RWI) offices in Beijing (2001-2009) and Stockholm (2016-2025), and as programme manager and advisor in both the public and private sector, including at Sida, the OHCHR and the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights. She studied Chinese language, social anthropology, and international human rights law in Lund, Kunming, and London, and holds an MA in International Development from Melbourne University.

Oud is an experienced public speaker, moderator, and expert commentator. She is a co-author of The Decoding China Dictionary, a guide for policymakers on China’s interpretations of key international terms. Her recent publications include:

Malin Oud & Oscar Almén (eds.) (forthcoming in early 2026) China as a Global Development Actor: Transforming the International Aid Landscape. Stockholm: The Expert Group for Aid Studies. Available from: https://eba.se/en/pagaende-studier/anthology-on-china-as-an-aid-actor/22175/

Malin Oud & Katja Drinhausen (2025) ‘Decoding China’s Political Discourse and Foreign Policy Narratives’. In: The Decoding China Project (eds.) The Decoding China Dictionary (3rd ed.), November 2025. Berlin: The Decoding China Project. Available from: https://decodingchina.eu/decoding-chinas-political-discourse-and-foreign-policy-narratives/

Malin Oud & Tom Baxter (eds.) (2025) ’Learning: Global China and Just Transitions. A Free Three-Part Course on China’s Engagement in Climate Transitions Across the Global South’, Dialogue Earth & Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, July 2025.

Available from: https://rwi.lu.se/news/learning-global-china-and-just-transitions/

Malin Oud (2024) ‘Powers of Persuasion? China’s Struggle for Human Rights Discourse Power at the UN’. In: Sebastian Haug et al (eds.) Power Shifts in International Organisations: China at the United Nations, Global Policy Journal Special Issue 15(2), May 2024, Wiley-Blackwell, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17585899/2024/15/S2

Malin Oud & Katja Drinhausen (eds.) (2023), The Decoding China Dictionary (2nd edition), March 2023. Available from: www.decodingchina.eu

Malin Oud (2022) ’Wertekonflikte: Was bedeutet das Menschenrechtsverständnis der Kommunistischen Partei für die wirtschaftlichen und politischen Beziehungen der EU zu China?’. In: Russwurm & Gönner (eds.) Wie gestalten wir unsere Beziehungen zu China?, Verlag Herder. Available from: https://www.herder.de/geschichte-politik/shop/p4/76363-wie-gestalten-wir-unsere-beziehungen-zu-china-kartonierte-ausgabe/

Malin Oud (2022) ‘Embedding Human Rights in European and US China Policy’, The German Marshall Fund of the United States Policy Paper, 22 May 2022. Available from: https://www.gmfus.org/news/embedding-human-rights-european-and-us-china-policy

Malin Oud & Katja Drinhausen (eds.) (2021), The Decoding China Dictionary, March 2021. Available from: www.decodingchina.eu

Malin Oud (2020), ‘Harmonic Convergence. China and the Right to Development’. In: Nadège Rolland (ed.) An Emerging China-Centric Order. China’s Vision for a New World Order in Practice, The National Bureau of Asian Research Special Report No 87, 25 Aug 2020, https://www.nbr.org/publication/harmonic-convergence-china-and-the-right-to-development/