Jerker Hellström, born in 1974, is Director of the Swedish Center for China Studies (SCCS), a strategic advisory based in Stockholm. Jerker previously worked as Deputy Research Director at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), where he headed the Asia and Middle East Program.

In his current role and during his employment at FOI, Jerker has focused on issues relating to China’s contemporary international relations and policies affecting the engagement of Chinese state actors overseas. During 2014-2015, Jerker worked at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he held the China portfolio at the Office for Strategic Analysis.

A journalist by training, Jerker worked as a Reuters correspondent in Shanghai and Stockholm during 2001- 2008.