School of Economics of Fujian Normal University Hosts the 30th Annual Conference of the China Society of Political Economy and the 23rd Seminar of the China School of Economics Forum

On August 23, 2020, the 30th Annual Conference of the Chinese Society of Political Economy and the 23rd Seminar of the Chinese Haipai ^[1] Economics Forum were held at the Qishan Campus of the School of Economics, Fujian Normal University. This conference was hosted by the Chinese Society of Political Economy, the National Research Center for Political Economy with Chinese Characteristics (at our university), and the Institute of Haipai Economics at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. It was organized by the School of Economics of Fujian Normal University and co-organized by the Research Center for Economic and Social Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Department of Principles of the Institute of Marxism Studies at CASS, and the School of Marxism at Fujian Normal University. The meeting was held through a combination of online and offline formats.

More than 200 people attended the academic conference online and offline, including Professor Cheng Enfu, President of the Chinese Society of Political Economy and Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Society Consultant and former President of Fujian Normal University Professor Li Jianping; Society Consultant and former President of the Capital University of Economics and Business Professor Wen Kui; Society Consultant and Executive Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Peking University Professor Yu Hongjun; Society Consultant and Professor at Wuhan University Jian Xinhua; Society Consultant and Professor at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics He Ganqiang; Society Consultant and Professor at the Party School of the Jiangsu Provincial CPC Committee Li Bingyan; as well as various Vice Presidents of the Society, experts and scholars from more than 60 universities and research institutions—including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Nankai University, Wuhan University, Fudan University, Beijing Normal University, China University of Political Science and Law, Tianjin University, National University of Defense Technology, Xiamen University, and Northwest University—and representatives of faculty and students from our School of Economics and the School of Marxism.

The conference, themed "The Basic Socialist Economic System and the Modernization of National Governance," was divided into an opening ceremony, keynote reports, parallel sub-forums, and a closing ceremony. Lin Jianrong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Economics at Fujian Normal University, presided over the opening ceremony.

At the opening ceremony, Cheng Enfu, President of the Chinese Society of Political Economy and Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Li Xuan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of our university; and Wang Xiuli, member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Chairperson of the Fujian Provincial Federation of Social Sciences, delivered speeches respectively.

President Cheng Enfu pointed out that the teaching and research of political economy in our School are particularly prominent and excellent. This is the result of the long-term adherence to the correct direction of Marxist teaching and research by former President Chen Zheng, former President Li Jianping, and all the teachers of the School of Economics, which is worthy of study and reference by universities and colleagues nationwide. Focusing on the basic socialist economic system and the modernization of national governance, President Cheng shared four areas of content: the need to earnestly study and grasp General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches on "continuously exploring new frontiers of contemporary Chinese Marxist political economy"; the need to accurately grasp the basic economic system of socialism with Chinese characteristics; the need to fully recognize the advantages of the socialist system and national governance demonstrated by the anti-epidemic struggle; and the need to actively offer suggestions for the new development pattern characterized by dual circulation as the mainstay. He also advocated that political economy scholars should academize, institutionalize, politicize, and concretize the new development pattern proposed by the Central Committee, sounding the strongest voice of Marxist economists.

Deputy Secretary Li Xuan briefly introduced the university’s history and the outstanding achievements made in the discipline of theoretical economics. He stated that the experts and scholars, by focusing on the theme of "The Basic Socialist Economic System and the Modernization of National Governance" through online and offline integration, will surely exert a positive and far-reaching influence on the continuous improvement of the theoretical, disciplinary, and discourse systems of political economy with Chinese characteristics, and on the construction of an economic discipline with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese spirit ^[2]. He expressed hope that the leaders, experts, and scholars would engage in broader and deeper cooperation with our university to help our theoretical economics discipline reach a new level.

Wang Xiuli, Vice Chairperson of the Fujian Provincial Federation of Social Sciences, stated in her speech that our School's economics discipline has always adhered to and developed Marxist economics, making outstanding contributions to the development of Marxist economics in our province and throughout the country. She pointed out that for Marxist political economy to have vitality, it must advance with the times, continuously improve the ability to manage the socialist market economy, and better answer the theoretical and practical questions of China's economic development. She hoped that this conference would continuously promote the innovative development of Marxist political economy through the healthy interaction between theory and practice, making active contributions to opening new frontiers for contemporary Chinese Marxist political economy.

Huang Maoxing, Dean of the School of Economics at Fujian Normal University, presided over the keynote speech session. After the opening ceremony, twelve experts, including Cheng Enfu, Li Jianping, Wen Kui, Yu Hongjun, Jian Xinhua, He Ganqiang, Bai Baoli, He Zili, Qiu Haiping, Ding Baojun, Li Bingyan, and Li Zhengtu, delivered keynote speeches.

Professor Cheng Enfu, President of the Chinese Society of Political Economy, delivered a speech titled "Ten Major Policy Innovations of the New Marxist Economics Comprehensive School (Haipai Economics)." Professor Li Jianping, Society Consultant and former President of our university, gave a speech titled "If There Were No Engels, Would the Working Class Still Have Its Own 'Bible'?—Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Engels' Birth." Professor Wen Kui, Society Consultant and former President of the Capital University of Economics and Business, delivered "An Outline of the Theory of Regulated Market Economy: On the Characteristics of the Socialist Market Economy." Professor Yu Hongjun, Society Consultant and Executive Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Peking University, presented "The Logic of Choosing Economic Systems." Professor Jian Xinhua of Wuhan University spoke on "Correctly Understanding Several Difficult Problems of the Basic Socialist Economic System." Professor He Ganqiang of Nanjing University of Finance and Economics delivered "A Critique of 'Resource Allocation Can Only Be Effectively Achieved Through Fair Market Competition'." Professor Bai Baoli of Beijing Normal University, Vice President of the Society, presented "The Capitalist Boundaries of Economic Globalization and the Roots of Trade Wars." Professor He Zili of Nankai University, Vice President of the Society, gave a "Political Economic Analysis of the World Undergoing Changes Unseen in a Century ^[3]." Professor Qiu Haiping of Renmin University of China, Vice President of the Society, spoke on "The Basic Socialist Economic System from the Perspective of Modernization of National Governance." Professor Li Bingyan of the Party School of the Jiangsu Provincial CPC Committee presented "On the Innovation of the Categorical System of Political Economy with Chinese Characteristics." Li Zhengtu, a researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, delivered "On the Civilizational and Institutional Foundations of Governing the Country According to Law."

In the four parallel sub-forums, more than one hundred conference representatives conducted extensive and in-depth discussions on topics such as the basic socialist economic system and its comparison between China and foreign countries, the modernization of national governance and its comparison between China and foreign countries, political economy theory and mathematical analysis, and Haipai economics theory and policy innovation.

The closing ceremony was presided over by Professor Wang Laixi, Vice President of the Society and Vice President of Inner Mongolia Normal University. Hou Weimin, Vice President of the Society and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, delivered the closing speech. He emphasized that this conference adhered to the true qualities of Marxist political economy, maintained the underlying color of political economy with Chinese characteristics, and reflected the unique characteristics of the Chinese Society of Political Economy. The conference unanimously agreed that the 31st Annual Conference of the Chinese Society of Political Economy in 2021 will be held at Jilin University.

Professor Huang Jin and Professor Dai Shuangxing, Vice Deans of our School, and Associate Professor Li Ruide of the School of Marxism spoke in the parallel sub-forums. Associate Professor Li Junjun and Dr. Chen Meihua of our School, and Associate Professor Huang Wen of the School of Marxism, were added as directors of the Chinese Society of Political Economy.