Beat Schneider, Professor Emeritus of the University of the Arts Bern, Switzerland, Visited Our Institute for Academic Exchange
On the morning of April 17, 2024, Beat Schneider, Professor Emeritus at the Bern University of the Arts in Switzerland, left-wing activist, and former member of the Swiss Federal Assembly, visited our Institute for exchange once again after a six-month interval. Professor Schneider has conducted in-depth research on Chinese history, culture, and the history of New China [1]. His most influential representative work, China's Long March to Modernization: A Non-Eurocentric Perspective, published in December 2022, has already seen multiple editions in Europe.
Xin Xiangyang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Institute of Marxism Studies (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), and Vice-Director Lin Jianhua, along with other scholars, engaged in an in-depth, candid, and productive discussion on a series of issues of interest to Professor Schneider. These included the universality of Marxism, the laws and trends of human history and the development of the era, the so-called "middle-income trap," as well as the historical periodization of China's socialist construction since the founding of New China and the historical positioning of the New Era.
Professor Schneider stated that the scholars' explanations and analyses provided him with a multi-dimensional and deeper understanding of Sinicized and modernized Marxism [2] and Chinese-path modernization. He noted that upon returning to Europe, he would more proactively and resolutely introduce the developmental achievements of socialism with Chinese characteristics, particularly socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, to Marxists and communist parties in German-speaking countries. Secretary and Director Xin Xiangyang expressed his gratitude for Professor Schneider's relevant work and contributions, expressing hope for further strengthening academic exchanges and ties between the two parties in the future.
This exchange activity was chaired by Vice-Director Lin Jianhua. Researchers Zhang Jianyun, Hou Weimin, and Liu Xukuan, along with Associate Researcher Li Kaixuan, participated in the event.
(Contributed by Li Kaixuan)