Jiahui Liao

Jiahui Liao’s research lies at the intersection of cultural and creative industries, cultural production, and economic sociology. She examines creative businesses in transnational and cross-cultural contexts, with a particular focus on traditional crafts and the visual arts. Her broader research interests include valuation in the creative economy, innovative business models, arts marketing, and the transnational circulation of art, craft, and cultural heritage.

Her current doctoral project, Revaluing Traditional Craft in Transnational Markets: From Business Models to Market-Making, investigates how traditional craft is revalued across transnational markets through business model development and market-making. Drawing on qualitative case studies, interviews, participant observation, document analysis, and contextual mapping, the project explores how Chinese traditional craft businesses in the UK develop their business models while contributing to the emergence of new markets. It shows how the cultural and economic value of traditional craft is created, organised, and legitimised within cross-cultural market settings.

Before joining King’s, Jiahui studied finance and arts management across China and Europe. This interdisciplinary background, centred on value and valuation in the creative economy, continues to shape her research by bringing together perspectives from business management, cultural policy, and both qualitative and quantitative social research. Alongside her academic work, she has contributed to projects spanning documentary filmmaking, publishing, museum IP development, and creative communications. Having lived and worked in Shenzhen, Dublin, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Melbourne, and London, she brings a comparative, cross-cultural perspective to questions of culture, heritage, and markets.