The 2023 Annual Conference of the Chinese Sociological Association, hosted by the Chinese Sociological Association and organized by Nankai University, was held at the Balitai Campus of Nankai University from July 7 to 9. Themed “Chinese Path to Modernization and the New Mission of Chinese Sociology”, this annual conference aims to explore the path of Chinese-style modern civilization in the context of great historical changes, and respond to the real and major problems in China’s social development by identifying problems, looking for laws and increasing topics regarding major transition and issues facing the country.

Zhao Qi, Secretary-General of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Li Peilin, Director of the Academic Committee of the Chinese Sociological Association; Yang Qingshan, Chancellor of Nankai University; Wang Liwen, Secretary General of the Tianjin Federation of Social Sciences; Professor Li Youmei, former President of the Chinese Sociological Association and Deputy Director of its Academic Committee; research fellow Chen Guangjin, former President of the Chinese Sociological Association and Deputy Director of its Academic Committee; and research fellow Zhang Yi, President of the Chinese Sociological Association, attended the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was moderated by Liang Qi, Vice Chancellor of Nankai University.

Yang Qingshan delivered a welcome speech.

Speech by Zhao Qi

Speech by Wang Liwen

At the opening ceremony, Chen Guangjin announced the election results of the 12th Member Congress and the First Meeting of the 12th Council of the Chinese Sociological Association. Zhang Yi, President and research fellow of the National Institute of Social Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was elected as the new President of the Chinese Sociological Association.

Opening speech delivered by Zhang Yi

Professor Zhang Wenhong, Vice President of the Chinese Sociological Association and Dean of Zhou Enlai School of Government of Nankai University, moderated the keynote speech session of the annual conference.

Li Daokui, a professor at the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University and dean of the Institute for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking of Tsinghua University, delivered a report focusing on “How can Chinese modernization create new knowledge of social sciences? – Speculation and exploration from an economic perspective”.

Bian Yanjie, a distinguished professor of sociology at Xi’an Jiaotong University, delivered a keynote speech on “Chinese Modernization and Innovation in Relational Sociology Theory”.

Guan Jian, a professor at the Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government of Nankai University, gave a speech entitled “Sensing and Perceiving the Community: The Dual Path of Raising the Consciousness of the Community for the Chinese Nation”.

Zhu Di, research fellow at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, delivered a keynote speech entitled “New Ideas for Stimulating Consumption in the Context of High-quality Development: An Analytical Framework for the Sociology of Consumption”.

Wang Qiang, a senior expert at Tencent Research Institute and director of the Cutting-edge Science and Technology Research Center, gave a speech entitled “Singularity Moment: Six Observations on the Economic and Social Impact of General AI”, saying that the development of artificial intelligence has greatly promoted the growth of world economy, and it has also advanced from traditional artificial intelligence (weak artificial intelligence) to artificial general intelligence (AGI).

More than 3,600 people, including the deputy director of the Academic Committee of the Chinese Sociological Association, the new vice president of the Chinese Sociological Association, the members of its Academic Committee, the executive members and members of the 12th Council of the Chinese Sociological Association, the heads of doctoral stations and first-class disciplines in sociology, as well as the experts and scholars whose papers were selected for this academic annual meeting as well as students, attended the opening ceremony and held discussion in 93 sub-forums in two days. The number of participants hit an all-time high.

Edited and translated by Nankai News Team.