On October 22, Dean and Party Secretary Deng Chundong held a symposium with foreign scholars

On the evening of October 22, Deng Chundong, President and Party Committee Secretary of the Institute of Marxism Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), held a symposium with various dignitaries and scholars participating in the Seventh World Socialism Forum. Speaking on behalf of the international participants during the symposium were Egon Krenz, the last General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany; Mauro Alboresi, General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party; Igor Karpenko, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus and Deputy Secretary of the Minsk City Committee; Frédéric Claude Boccara, member of the National Council of the French Communist Party, lecturer at Paris 13th University, and editorial board member of the French journal Économie et Politique (Economy and Politics); Iliana Marcheva, researcher at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; and Yaroslav Listov, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in charge of youth affairs.

Chinese and foreign scholars engaged in in-depth discussions on issues including the fundamental characteristics of socialism, the experiences and lessons of 20th-century socialism, the experience of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xi Jinping’s thoughts on state governance ^[1], transformations in socialist states, and the opportunities, challenges, models, and prospects for socialism in the 21st century, reaching a broad consensus. The foreign scholars spoke highly of the success of socialism with Chinese characteristics, arguing that the key to this success lies in its adherence to the basic principles of socialism and the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and that this theory plays a positive role in driving the development of the global socialist movement. Chinese and foreign scholars unanimously agreed that capitalism has become an obsolete system and that socialism is a necessary choice for the world. They emphasized the need for full confidence in the future of socialism and argued that 21st-century socialism should synthesize the experiences and lessons of 20th-century socialism while adapting to new 21st-century conditions—particularly the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the information revolution. This involves integrating the basic principles of socialism with the specific realities of individual countries, upholding foundational values such as socialist equality, effectively utilizing the role of the state, fully realizing the role of each nation’s people as the principal subjects ^[2], and strengthening the ties between socialists and progressive left-wing forces throughout the world.

In his concluding remarks, President Deng Chundong pointed out that the foreign scholars' full affirmation of socialism with Chinese characteristics in this symposium had greatly encouraged our confidence in persisting on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and further developing the friendly sentiments within the socialist family. President Deng Chundong’s proposal to hold similar symposiums annually received a positive response from the international participants.

Other attendees included Andrey Krasilnikov, assistant to the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Belarus; Evgeniy Kandilarov, researcher at the Institute of Historical Research of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; Rolf Berthold, the last ambassador of the former East Germany to China; Francesco Maringiò, Deputy Head of the International Department of the Italian Communist Party; Andrea Catone, Editor-in-Chief of the Italian journal MarxVentuno (Marx 21st Century); and Dominique Bari, member of the Scientific Committee of the Gabriel Péri Foundation and Editor-in-Chief of the French journal La Pensée (Thought).