Cobus van Staden completed his PhD in Japanese studies and media studies at the University of Nagoya in Japan in 2008. He expanded his work to comparisons between Japan and China during postdoctoral positions at the University of Stellenbosch, and the SARCHI Chair on African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg, before joining the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2013. His focus on China-Africa relations is further developed through the multi-platform China-Africa Project, which includes the China in Africa Podcast, the most prominent podcast dedicated to China-Africa relations, which is downloaded about 30,000 times per month.