Stephen Cachia was born in St.Paul's Bay (Malta) in 1976. Cachia started studying Chinese at the China Cultural Centre in Malta (2008-2012). He furthered his studies of Chinese at the University of Malta's Confucius Institute (2010-2012) and the University of New England (Australia) (2015-2017). The scholar has successfully completed courses on teaching Chinese language and culture at Beijing Capital Normal University in 2015 and 2017. He has taught Chinese language and culture for 6 years at the China Cultural Centre in Malta (2012-2018). Cachia also lived and worked in Shanghai in 2010.
He has visited China various times, travelling all across the country. His main research areas are the Chinese section of the Silk Road, Dunhuang studies, Chinese linguistics, and Chinese history, especially the late medieval period (Song to Yuan dynasties). Cachia holds a Master of Arts degree in Chinese Studies from the University of New England (Australia). His Master's dissertation investigated the possible motivations for Admiral Zheng He's voyages to the Indian Ocean during the Early Ming dynasty by analysing the primary sources for the voyages. He is currently writing a proposal for a Ph. D. in Chinese Studies, focusing on Chinese medieval history.
In 2022, Cachia translated the first Chinese novel (Yin Jian Ling's Ye Mang Po) into Maltese. The translated version of the book (Għoljet il-Qasab) was published in April 2023. In January 2023, Stephen Cachia participated in the First All Mediterranean Chinese Studies Conference at the University of Malta's Valletta Campus where he presented his research on Zheng He's voyages.
Stephen Cachia lectures Chinese language, history and culture at the Department of Middle Eastern and East Asian Studies (since 2018), the Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine (since 2022) and the Department of History (since 2023) within the University of Malta.
