An inaugural conference was held at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) on Oct 23, marking the establishment of the Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies. 

The Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies is established at BFSU on Oct 23. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Those in attendance at the event included officials from the Chinese government and renowned domestic universities, scholars, and teacher and student representatives.

BFSU leaders present at the meeting were Wang Dinghua, secretary of the CPC BFSU committee; Yang Dan, deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and president of the university; Jia Wenjian, deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university; and Zhao Gang, member of the standing committee of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university.

The conference was presided over by President Yang.

Wang Dinghua, secretary of the CPC BFSU committee, speaks at the inaugural conference of the Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies on Oct 23. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Wang expressed warm congratulations on the founding of the consortium and delivered heartfelt thanks to participants of the conference. He said the consortium initiated by BFSU will promote the disciplinary construction of country and area studies, build a knowledge system with Chinese characteristics, explore the talent training mode in the field and in global governance, bring into full play BFSU’s language advantages, and probe into major issues and newly established interdisciplinary fields concerning national security, international organizations and global governance in the modern Chinese context to jointly tackle key problems and achieve coordinated development.

Wang said the consortium will become a think tank serving social development, focus on domestic and global situations, and help China to boost the modernization of social governance. It will pool the wisdom of scholars in the field, facilitate the evolution of relevant knowledge systems, integrate educational resources, improve the quality of talent training, and present China's solutions for global governance in the new era.

Yu Hongjun, former deputy director of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, gives a speech at the inaugural conference of the Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies on Oct 23. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Yu Hongjun, former deputy director of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said the establishment of the consortium is a landmark event brought about by the prosperity of philosophy and social sciences, and also an inevitable result because of the advancement of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in recent years.

Yu suggested combining studies on domestic, regional and global issues, incorporating politics, economy, culture, science and technology, and security, and integrating the construction of academic systems, research teams and cooperation mechanisms in promoting country and area studies.

Liu Wei, former president of RUC, speaks at the inaugural conference of the Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies on Oct 23. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Liu Wei, former president of Renmin University of China (RUC), noted that modernization features global openness, and China is embarking on a new journey of opening-up by building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies led by BFSU reflects the sense of academic responsibility in the great era, he added.

Tan Fangzheng, deputy director of the Department of Social Sciences at the MOE, gives a speech at the inaugural conference of the Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies on Oct 23. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Tan Fangzheng, deputy director of the Department of Social Sciences at the Ministry of Education (MOE), talked about the three milestones in the development of the discipline: country and area studies’ transformation into a first-class discipline under the cross disciplinary category, its incorporation into the MOE’s knowledge system of philosophy and social sciences and the university think tank service capacity improvement project, and the establishment of relevant colleges and research institutes by universities including BFSU.

The consortium initiated by BFSU is a community representing honor, responsibility and the future, said Tan, adding that he hopes that it will abide by the rules with the original intention, implement its initiative, and work together to make great achievements.

Jia Peng, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges at the MOE, speaks at the inaugural conference of the Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies on Oct 23. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Jia Peng, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges at the MOE, said the establishment of the consortium condensed the efforts and wisdom of scholars and experts in various fields. To promote the high-quality construction of country and regional studies, universities should keep in mind the country’s most fundamental interests, strengthen overall planning, create advantages in disciplines, locations and languages, conduct research, attach importance to the quality of think tank construction and enhance collaborative efforts to solve bottleneck problems.

The establishment of the discipline responds to the requirements of the country and the expectations of universities. Jia said he believes that country and area studies, guided by discipline construction, supported by talent training and jointly promoted by relevant academic organizations and communities, will better grasp the world's trends of development and the pulse of the times, offer insights into major issues in international changes, and contribute to the comprehensive promotion of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Six officials unveil the nameplate of the Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies on Oct 23. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Professor Li Youwen, deputy director of the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at BFSU, reads the Initiative of Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Officials and researchers exchange views on the discipline construction of country and area studies. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

At the discussion session chaired by BFSU Vice-President Jia Wenjian, officials and researchers exchanged views on the discipline construction of country and area studies.

The Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies contributes insights into the laws of world development and responds to China’s major strategic needs in the new era while reflecting the social responsibility shouldered by universities, representing the inherent requirements of new discipline construction, and opening up channels for interdisciplinary research and talent training, said attendees.

Yang Dan, deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and president of the university, delivers a keynote speech at the conference on Oct 23. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Following the discussion, President Yang delivered a keynote speech titled "Using the Consortium to Cope with Challenges Faced by the Development of Country and Area Studies", in which he talked about how this discipline will contribute to the Chinese path to modernization.

Yang said that the discipline construction of country and area studies is a key innovation, which helps China and other countries better understand each other and brings forth new ideas into knowledge system building, and also improves government service capacity. He said the development of this discipline is vital to the rise of China, to telling Chinese stories well, and to building China's independent knowledge system.

Yang suggested that the disciplinary construction of country and area studies should be based on national demands, pin up the foundation of disciplinary development, reflect the country's most important interests, and practice the concepts embodied in the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. By forming world-class disciplines and academic and discourse systems with Chinese characteristics, academic circles will be able to cope with challenges arising from disciplinary construction.

The Chinese Consortium for Country and Area Studies should enhance its global coverage, long-term research, discipline integration, speed of response, and cross validation accuracy while breaking the bottleneck of disciplinary development through scientific research, talent training, social services and international exchanges with joined hands, Yang said.

BFSU will shoulder its responsibilities in the consortium with its global language service platform, multilingual periodicals, Consortium for Country and Area Studies, international organizational database, Indexpedia and the inter-school training model that combines its foreign language advantages with various majors, Yang added.

Experts and scholars discuss various issues of the country and area studies discipline. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Subsequent to Yang’s speech, experts and scholars discussed and reached consensus on clarifying the concept and category of the country and area studies discipline, establishing distinct and independent discipline attributes, formulating the target and mode of talent training, building a theoretical system of the discipline, enrichment and improvement of the discipline connotation, and boosting its development with new research methods, ways of thinking and discipline positioning.