The Year 2020
In April, the Bureau of Personnel and Education approved the roster for the new session of the Professional and Technical Qualification Review Committee (Associate Senior level) of the Institute of Marxism Studies (IMS): Yu Haiqing, Wang Chuanli, Wang Shuyin, Liu Zhiming, Sun Laibin, Li Jianguo, Yu Bin, Xin Xiangyang, Chen Zhigang, Lin Jianhua, Jiang Hui, Qin Xuan, Gong Yun, Fan Jianxin, and Pan Jine, with Jiang Hui serving as Director.
In May, the IMS initiated the restructuring of its research departments, research offices, and editorial departments. The positions of director and deputy director for the five research departments, as well as for the 18 research offices and three editorial departments, were all filled through a competitive selection process [1]. By the end of June, the appointment of heads for these departments and offices was completed, and the adjustment of professional personnel was finalized in conjunction with the structural reorganization. This adjustment—the largest in scale since the founding of the IMS—involved the reconstruction of one research department and three research offices, the adjustment of three research offices, and the renaming of three research offices.
The specific adjustments were as follows: The "Research Department for the Development of Marxism" was reconstructed as the "Research Department for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era." The three original research offices under the "Research Department for the Development of Marxism"—the "Research Office for Economic and Social Construction," the "Research Office for Political and International Strategy," and the "Research Office for Cultural and Ideological Construction"—were reorganized and reconstructed as the "Research Office for Basic Theory," the "Research Office for Basic Strategies," and the "Research Office for Ideology and Social Trends." The "Research Office for the History of Marxist Development" was moved to the "Research Department for the Principles of Marxism."
Within the "Research Department for the Principles of Marxism," three offices—the "Research Office for the Basic Principles of Marxism," the "Research Office for the Thought of Marx and Engels," and the "Research Office for the Thought of Lenin and Stalin"—were respectively adjusted and renamed as the "Research Office for Marxist Philosophy," the "Research Office for Marxist Political Economy," and the "Research Office for Scientific Socialism." The "Research Office for Ideological and Political Education" was moved to the "Research Department for the Sinicization of Marxism." The "Research Office for Party Building and Party History" formerly under the "Research Department for the Sinicization of Marxism" was moved to the "Research Department for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era."
In May, the Bureau of Scientific Research approved the roster for the fourth session of the Academic Committee of the IMS: Jiang Hui, Xin Xiangyang, Chen Zhigang, Yu Bin, Pan Jine, Li Ruiqin, He Xinyuan, Jin Minqing, Li Zhenghua, Fan Jianxin, Gong Yun, Lin Jianhua, Lyu Weizhou, Liu Zhiming, and Qin Xuan. (In mid-term adjustments: Jiang Hui ceased to serve as a member and director after May 2022; Li Ruiqin retired and ceased to be a member in August 2023; Yu Haiqing was added in December 2023; Luo Wendong was added in May 2024; and Cui Weihang was added in August 2025.)
On the morning of September 29, the "2020 Opening Ceremony of the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Founding Assembly of the Schools for the Integration of Research and Education" was held. The School of Marxism at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is one of the twelve schools for the integration of research and education.
On October 12, the IMS held a general staff meeting. Comrade Jiang Hui—Member of the Party Group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Institute of Contemporary China, and Director of the Institute of Marxism Studies—announced the Party Group’s decisions regarding cadre appointments and removals: Comrade Xin Xiangyang was appointed Secretary of the Party Committee of the IMS; Comrade Fan Jianxin was removed from the posts of Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Director of the IMS to take up another appointment. Ke Wenjun, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Personnel and Education of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, attended the meeting; Jia Chaoning, Vice Director of the IMS, presided over the meeting, which was attended by all cadres and staff of the IMS.
From October 31 to November 2, the "Forum Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Engels and the 13th National Forum for Deans of Marxist Academies," hosted by the Institute of Marxism Studies of the CASS and Tianjin Normal University and organized by the School of Marxism of Tianjin Normal University, was held in Tianjin. The theme of the forum was "Engels and Contemporary China." Jiang Hui, Member of the Party Group of the CASS, Director of the Institute of Contemporary China, and Director of the IMS, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote report. Chen Zhemin, Member of the Standing Committee of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee and Head of the Publicity Department of the Municipal Party Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. The opening ceremony was presided over by Zhang Ling, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tianjin Normal University. Gu Hailiang, Deputy Director of the Social Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Boya Chair Professor at Peking University; Xin Xiangyang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Director of the IMS; Hou Huiqin, former Secretary of the Party Committee of the IMS and Director of the CASS Research Center for National Cultural Security and Ideological Construction; and responsible comrades from relevant units such as the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Education Commission, and the Municipal Federation of Social Sciences attended the opening ceremony. Zhong Yinghua, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Tianjin Normal University, delivered an address at the opening ceremony.
On November 10, the IMS held a general staff meeting. Jiang Hui, Member of the Party Group of the CASS, Director of the Institute of Contemporary China, and Director of the IMS, representing the Academy’s Party Group, announced the cadre appointment and removal decisions: Comrades Gong Yun and Lin Jianhua were appointed Vice Directors of the IMS. Cui Jianmin, Deputy Director (Director-level, presiding over work) of the Bureau of Personnel and Education of the CASS, and Xin Xiangyang, Secretary of the Party Committee of the IMS, attended the meeting, which was attended by all cadres of the IMS.
On November 17, the "11th World Socialism Forum and the Launch Event for the Yellow Book of World Socialism and the Small Booklet Series on World Socialism," hosted by the CASS and organized by the IMS, the World Socialism Research Center, and the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, was held in Beijing via a combination of online and offline formats. The theme of the conference was "The Centenary of the Communist Party of China and the Great Changes Unseen in a Century" [2]. Participating Chinese and foreign experts and scholars engaged in in-depth discussions around the forum theme, focusing on topics such as the glorious historical development and lessons from the hundred-year journey of the CPC, the CPC’s theoretical explorations and practical contributions to socialism, the international contributions and global significance of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, and the opportunities, challenges, and development prospects of world socialism amidst the great changes unseen in a century.
On December 24, the "21st Century Marxism Lecture Hall" of the Institute of Marxism Studies held its inaugural lecture. Researcher Li Shenming, former Vice President of the CASS and Director of the World Socialism Research Center, gave a special lecture titled "Our Country’s Development Remains in a Period of Important Strategic Opportunity: Reflections on Studying the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee" [3]. Lin Jianhua, Vice Director of the IMS, presided over the lecture.