Call for Papers: International Symposium on "Reform and Opening-up and 21st Century World Socialism"

In November 2017, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of the State, Xi Jinping, conducted a state visit to Vietnam. During this period, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) formally signed the "Academic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement between the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences." This agreement served as a significant cooperation document signed between the two countries during General Secretary Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam. To implement this important agreement, in 2018, the academies of social sciences of China and Vietnam designated "Comparative Research on 40 Years of China’s Reform and Opening Up and 32 Years of Vietnam’s Doi Moi ^[1]" as the cooperative research project for the year. The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up, as well as the 32nd anniversary of the initiation of the Doi Moi (Renovation) process in Vietnam and Laos ^[2]. Thoroughly synthesizing the historical trajectory and practical experience of reform and opening up (Doi Moi) is of profound significance for further deepening the reforms of socialist countries and the development of the world socialist movement. In order to implement the cooperative research agreement between the Chinese and Vietnamese academies of social sciences, and to simultaneously summarize and look forward to the historical experience of socialist reform and opening up and the developmental process of world socialism, it has been decided upon deliberation to invite scholars from socialist countries including China, Vietnam, and Laos to discuss this theme.

To this end, we plan to hold an international symposium themed "Reform and Opening Up and 21st Century World Socialism" on November 1, 2018 (registration on October 31) in Beijing, China. the scale of the conference will be approximately 100 people, and the working languages will be Chinese and Vietnamese.

The primary topics include:

1. Analysis of the contemporary background of China's reform and opening up and the Doi Moi of Vietnam and Laos.
2. The historical process and fundamental experiences of China's reform and opening up and the Doi Moi of Vietnam and Laos.
3. Summary and outlook of the practices of reform (Doi Moi) in socialist countries across economic, political, cultural, and diplomatic fields.
4. Theoretical innovations in the reform and opening up (Doi Moi) of socialist countries.
5. Similarities, differences, and mutual learning of experiences in the reform and opening up (Doi Moi) of China, Vietnam, and Laos.
6. Characteristics and developmental prospects of the 21st-century world socialist movement.

The organizers will adopt a format combining targeted invitations to renowned experts and participation via paper submission. Leaders and distinguished scholars from the academies of social sciences of China, Vietnam, and Laos will be invited to attend. Simultaneously, we welcome expert scholars in relevant fields from domestic universities and research institutions to draft conference papers on the aforementioned topics. All applicants are requested to send electronic versions of their submitted papers (within 10,000 characters) and abstracts (approximately 500 characters) to the conference organizing committee’s email address by October 12, 2018. We will conduct a selection process for the papers, notify selected authors of their invitation to the conference by October 17, and recommend outstanding papers for publication. Please refer to the journal Marxist Studies (马克思主义研究) for paper formatting. No registration fee will be charged for the conference; however, travel and accommodation expenses are to be borne by the participants.

Appendix: Conference Invitation and Reply Slip Conference Organizing Committee, Institute of Marxism Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences September 10, 2018