A forum was held at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) via video link on Oct 29 to follow new development trends in area-specific and country-specific studies. The event also marked the fifth anniversary of the first publication of Area Studies and Global Development.

Experts and scholars from domestic universities and research institutions attend a forum held by BFSU on Oct 29 to follow new development trends in area-specific and country-specific studies. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

The virtual meeting was attended by more than 30 experts and scholars from renowned domestic universities and research institutions, as well as teachers and students at BFSU.

Jia Dezhong, member of the standing committee of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university, congratulated Area Studies and Global Development on the fifth anniversary of its first edition and expressed thanks to experts and scholars for their support of the journal.

China has further deepened its efforts in opening-up and celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country and the centenary of the CPC over the past five years, said Jia, adding that profound changes undergone by the world have brought tremendous challenges to global and regional governance. Against that background, Area Studies and Global Development has firmly adhered to its mission and achieved notable achievements and honors, Jia noted.

At present, as international cooperation continues to deepen in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, the pace of building a new development pattern with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulation reinforcing each other is accelerating. Facing such historical opportunities, area-specific and country-specific studies are bound to go global, observe the world situation, and support the building of national strategies, according to Jia.

Jia stressed that BFSU will shoulder its mission of the times while leveraging its linguistic strength and academic resources to further enhance China's international influence and academic discourse power in area-specific and country-specific studies, and will contribute to the development of domestic academic journals and the prosperity of China’s social sciences.

Li Sifei, deputy head of the BFSU Office of Academic Research, said that the current international and domestic conditions have provided important opportunities and posed challenges to Area Studies and Global Development. He said he hopes that the journal will absorb the wisdom of renowned scholars at home and abroad in a more extensive way to make it a key vehicle for institutes focusing on area-specific, country-specific and international studies, raise its influence, support the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and make the voice of BFSU better heard.

Huang Zhaoyu, deputy editor-in-chief of Contemporary International Relations, a journal affiliated with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, noted that the development of area-specific and country-specific studies will bring systematic knowledge to international studies, enrich its academic systems and improve its discourse mechanisms. He proposed that Area Studies and Global Development should take the lead in the building and development of area-specific and country-specific disciplines.

Huang Meibo, dean of the International Development Cooperation Academy at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, said Area Studies and Global Development has broken new ground for the integrated development of linguistic and economic disciplines. She called for international collaboration to ease the inflated debt burden of emerging countries and developing countries caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to support the implementation of the BRI.

Xu Qinhua, vice-president of the National Academy of Development and Strategy and executive president of the Institute of European and Asian Studies at Renmin University of China, said that comprehensive, fundamental and long-term research should be conducted in area-specific and country-specific studies. Global politics and area-specific and country-specific studies should formulate new study agendas and share integrated research to dissolve the island effect in the knowledge system.

Zhan Shiming, secretary-general of the Institute of Asian and African Studies and head of the editorial office of West Asia and Africa published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, called for more efforts to support country-specific studies of African countries like Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria.

Guo Peiqing, a professor at the School of International Affairs and Public Administration at Ocean University of China, said that area-specific and country-specific studies should take into consideration the building of a transportation network pattern in Eurasia with the Arctic channel and the east-west corridor on the Silk Road as the mainstay and north-south river flows playing auxiliary roles.

Liu Wenge, dean of the School of International Economics and International Relations at Liaoning University, talked about newly emerged geopolitical and geoeconomic risks in the international landscape.

During the discussion session, experts from BFSU held talks on four themes, namely, academic building of area-specific and country-specific disciplines, area studies, global governance and international organizations.

In its future development, Area Studies and Global Development will improve its column design and strive to build itself into a brand journal, said attendees.