On the morning of May 11th, the founding conference of the Shanghai Regional and State Studies Society was held at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). Wang Weisong, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Association (SSSA) and the Federation’s Dedicated Vice Chairman, Li Yansong, President of SISU, and Jiang Feng, former Secretary of the CPC SISU Committee, attended the meeting and delivered speeches.

Nearly 90 members of the Society, from relevant universities and other institutions in Shanghai, participated in the meeting, which reviewed and approved documents such as The Articles of Association of the Shanghai Regional and State Studies Society and elected members of its first council and supervisors. The first session of the elected first council then decided on Jiang Feng as President of the Society, Wang Jian, Li Kaisheng, Ding Chun, Liu Zikui, and Yang Cheng as Vice Presidents, and Yang Cheng concurrently as Secretary General.

Then the newly elected President Jiang Feng gave a speech, observing that Shanghai has a glorious record in regional and state studies, has produced a great number of relevant professionals and exerted profound academic influence. The Society will inherit the spiritual character of the older generation of scholars in regional and state studies, unite and rally all forces to actively engage in assisting “governance, business, education, cultural enlightenment, and international exchanges”, to serve national strategies and regional studies, and to help develop the discipline. It will actively voice opinions and take initiatives in the context of the country’s continuous efforts in creating a new situation for China’s major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, push for the implementation of the “three major global initiatives”, promote high-quality joint development of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, and help Shanghai’s development towards a modern socialist cosmopolitan city with far-reaching and profound global influences.

The Shanghai Regional and State Studies Society is an academic non-profit social organization voluntarily formed of relevant Shanghai-based institutions and individuals. It focuses on the development of the discipline of regional and state studies, talent cultivation, and international cooperation. Leveraging the advantages of talent resource aggregation, it will unite the forces of all social sectors to provide intellectual support for national strategies and build a collaborative innovation platform for academic growth.