After over five decades of de-Orientalization, academic China studies in the US and Europe have largely moved beyond the essentialist and reductionist epistemology of old Sinology. Scholars in the field now actively collaborate with counterparts from China, Japan, and beyond to develop nuanced, multifaceted understandings of China’s economy, politics, society, and culture, engaging in open and dynamic debates. Nevertheless, simplistic fantasies and fears about China – rooted in monolithic and ahistorical stereotypes from old Sinology – continue to shape popular and political perceptions of China in the West. The authoritarian regime in China also selectively leverages these stereotypes to promote Chinese exceptionalism and justify its resistance to liberal democracy. While striving to foster a more sophisticated public understanding and representation of China, contemporary China Studies scholars are also confronted with the risk of re-Orientalization under the growing influence of Western political elites, popular writers, and the Chinese Communist Party-state within the field.