Unveiling Ceremony of the Institute for Contemporary Chinese Thought and Culture and Academic Seminar on "Enhancing Cultural Soft Power and Building a Cultural Powerhouse" Held at Shenzhen University on May 29, 2014
On the morning of May 29, the unveiling ceremony for the "Institute of Contemporary Chinese Ideology and Culture"—jointly established by the Institute of Marxism Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Shenzhen University—and the academic symposium on "Improving Cultural Soft Power and Building a Culturally Powerful Nation" were grandly held in the international conference hall of Shenzhen University.
Leaders, experts, and scholars attending this symposium included: Deng Chundong, Director and Party Outreach Secretary of the Institute of Marxism Studies at CASS; Jiang Tanyu, Party Committee Secretary of Shenzhen University; Li Fengliang, Vice President of Shenzhen University; Li Ruiqi, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, and Department Head Yang Jian; Gong Yv, Chief Researcher of the Innovation Project at the Institute of Marxism Studies of CASS; Zheng Chengjun, Director of the Institute of Contemporary China at Beijing Language and Culture University; Pan Yi, Professor in the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Chen Jinlong, Dean of the School of Marxism at South China Normal University; Li Hui, Dean of the School of Social Science Education at Sun Yat-sen University; Liu Shexin, Dean of the School of Ideology and Politics at South China University of Technology; Wu Chongqing, Honorary Editor-in-Chief of Open Times [1] and Professor at the Institute of Marxist Philosophy and Modernization at Sun Yat-sen University; and Tian Qibo, Director of the Social Science Department at Shenzhen University. In addition, relevant faculty and graduate students from Shenzhen University, as well as journalists from news media outlets such as People's Daily, Guangming Daily, and Chinese Social Sciences Today [2], also attended the symposium.
Participating experts and scholars, based on General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on ideology and culture and in integration with China’s current realities, elaborated on the importance of improving cultural soft power and the strategic choices for building a culturally powerful nation. They pointed out that it is necessary to take the General Secretary's important expositions on ideology and culture as guidance, vigorously promote excellent traditional Chinese culture, and advance with the times to create new glories for Chinese culture.
Participating experts contended that ideology is the soul of a nation, culture is the lifeblood of a nation, and ideology and culture constitute the spiritual home of the people. To realize the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation [3], it is inevitable to realize the rejuvenation of the excellent ideology and culture of the Chinese nation. Culture is increasingly becoming an important source of national cohesion and creativity, and an increasingly important factor in the competition of comprehensive national strength.
Realizing national reunification is an important task in achieving the Chinese Dream [4] of the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation. A major subject in advancing national reunification and national rejuvenation is how to enable ideology and culture to play an important role as a spiritual bond in achieving and maintaining national unity under the broad framework of "One Country, Two Systems" [5].
Shenzhen is the window of China's Reform and Opening-up [6]. Adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau, it is a place where Eastern and Western ideologies and cultures converge and collide with exceptional intensity. Against the backdrop of great ideological vitality, the collision of concepts, and the integration of cultures, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to explore the experiences in Shenzhen of using contemporary Chinese ideology and culture to enhance overseas Chinese identity.
The joint establishment of the Institute of Contemporary Chinese Ideology and Culture by the Institute of Marxism Studies of CASS and Shenzhen University can leverage the advantages of the Institute of Marxism Studies as a fortified position for Marxism, and Shenzhen University’s position at the forefront of Reform and Opening-up with its proximity to Hong Kong and Macau and close ties overseas. Together, they will explore the laws of using contemporary Chinese mainstream ideology and culture to enhance overseas Chinese identity, and to strengthen identification with the state, identification with excellent Chinese culture, and identification with the Chinese Dream of realizing the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation.