On December 14, 2025, the 7th Forum on the Knowledge System of Chinese Political Science, co-hosted by the School of International Relations of Renmin University of China, the Institute of Area and Country Studies of Renmin University of China, the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, and the Institute of International Studies of Fudan University, was held in Beijing.
This forum comprised a high-end dialogue on the discipline of political science and fifteen sub-forums. In addition to scholars from Renmin University of China and Fudan University, more than 150 experts and scholars from over 30 domestic and overseas universities and research institutions—including Peking University, Tsinghua University, the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China (National Academy of Governance), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology—as well as academic journals such as Teaching and Research, European Studies, Contemporary International Relations, Russian, East European & Central Asian Studies, and Journal of Shanghai Institute of Socialism, participated in the forum.
The opening ceremony was chaired by Professor Yang Guangbin from the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China, and an address was delivered by Professor Lin Shangli from the same school.
Professor Lin Shangli stated that the knowledge system of Chinese political science plays an extremely important role in China's political development, national construction and the elevation of China's international status. Today's China is one of the best arenas for political research in the world, boasting boundless potential in terms of research contexts, academic inquiry, and the exploration and innovation of knowledge systems. Whether a country's social sciences can lead the world largely depends on whether the contexts in which it is present possess global leading significance. The presence of Chinese political science is reflected in three aspects: first, China's political system has evolved into a highly mature form today and continues to develop alongside societal and eras changes, especially the advent of the digital age; second, the world is undergoing profound transformations, and China is a pivotal driving force in shaping the new world emerging from these changes; third, China's new role in the world is empowering the globe through its own practices, and the new concepts it proposes are also reshaping the world. Faced with such contexts, academic research must cultivate a subjective consciousness and foster conscious subjects: the former means recognizing one's own distinctiveness and thereby forging academic subjectivity, while the latter involves constructing theories to explain the roots of such distinctiveness. In addition, emphasis should be placed on the formulation of research themes, the clarification of academic standpoints, and the advancement of research methodologies. Professor Lin Shangli pointed out that the knowledge system of Chinese political science must identify and define its own logic and position within the global intellectual landscape. Looking to the future, its academic concerns should center on the individual, the people and humanity—namely, realizing the organic unity of the all-round development of the individual, the wellbeing of the people of the whole society, and a stable order for all humanity.
After the opening ceremony, Professor Yang Guangbin from the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China chaired the Inter-University Dialogue on the Discipline of Political Science and delivered the first speech entitled The Formative Laws of the Status of a World Center for Political Science and Their Implications. Based on historical analysis, Professor Yang summarized the core characteristics of the emergence of a world center for political science, which include a methodology rooted in local history, culture and civilizational genes, indigenous intellectual resources, research approaches that draw on local resources, and an undertone of cultural exceptionalism.
He argued that contemporary Chinese political science, and even the social sciences as a whole, should not position themselves as a unique segment of human civilization. Historical political science has revealed the universal dimensions of Chinese civilization. Unlike theistic civilizations, Chinese civilization, as a secular civilization, is problem-oriented—and the problems it addresses are universal, such as those of development, equity and justice. Therefore, to construct the knowledge system of Chinese political science, the first step is to develop a new understanding of Chinese civilization and uncover the universality inherent in this secular civilization.
Professor Su Changhe from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University delivered a speech entitled International Relations Research as an Institution and a Methodology. He pointed out that the consolidation of the sovereign state system marks the advent of an era of comprehensive international relations, where political, economic, social and cultural interactions among states have formed an independent and increasingly systematized new field.
He argued that international relations themselves should be studied as a form of institutional arrangement, which represents the development of human politics to a higher stage since the emergence of the state. Professor Su emphasized that as an independent field, the operational laws and institutional structures of international relations exert a dynamic and systematic influence on the domestic politics of all countries. It is therefore necessary to develop an "international relations methodology" that can explain the laws of this field and in turn inform research on domestic issues.
Professor Di Dongsheng, from the School of International Relations and the Institute of Area and Country Studies at Renmin University of China, delivered a speech entitled The World Political and Economic Landscape in the Mid-21st Century from the Perspective of the New Round of Price Revolution. From the five dimensions of productive forces, transportation capacity, electric power, computing power and military power, Professor Di systematically analyzed the connotation of the new round of global "Price Revolution" and its fundamental shaping effect on the world politics and economy.
Centered on the East Asian production network, the sustained decline in the price of manufactured goods relative to bulk commodities, the revolutionary reduction in logistics costs, the popularization of clean energy, the widespread slump in computing power costs to rock-bottom prices, and the dramatic shift in the cost-performance ratio of military equipment are profoundly reshaping the balance of power and development models between the Global North and the Global South. Professor Di argued that this decades-long Price Revolution has granted the Global South an unprecedented development buffer zone and may fundamentally shake the traditional maritime power-dominated global trade and security system.
Professor Wu Xinbo from the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University delivered a speech entitled 2025: An Analysis of the China-US Game Dynamics. Based on detailed and solid data, he conducted an in-depth assessment of the China-US strategic game in the inaugural year of Trump's second term.
He pointed out that both sides have exhibited new characteristics in terms of the fragility of interdependence, the will to decouple, gaming behaviors and negotiation models. The US side has tended to adopt a strategy of "passive deterrence" and risk aversion at the tactical level, with intensifying internal frictions over its China policy. Professor Wu analyzed that China currently holds the upper hand in both the resolve and tactics of the game: the effectiveness of the US's traditional leverage has declined, while China's ability to mobilize third parties and its influence in multilateral mechanisms have risen. Shifts in public opinion and international prestige have also reflected a drop in trust in the US and recognition of the predictability of China's actions.
Professor Lv Jie from the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China delivered a speech entitled Historical Continuity and China's Political Development. He probed into the core challenge of historical political science research at the theoretical level, namely how to effectively address the issue of "continuity".
He distinguished between two theoretical approaches to continuity: continuity as a "legacy" and continuity as a "process", and elaborated on this distinction with case studies including the research on post-communist countries and the study of American political development. Professor Lv then applied this analytical framework to the study of Chinese politics, citing cases such as adaptive governance, the communist roots of corporate behavior, and the poverty alleviation path to illustrate how historical legacies and historical processes have shaped China's unique development trajectory.
He emphasized that historical political science aims to reveal the historicity, processuality and expansibility of political development, and serves as an important theoretical tool for the study of Chinese politics.
Professor Yin Zhiguang from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University delivered a speech entitled The Subjectivity and Universality of China’s Area and Country Studies. Starting from the sociological approach to knowledge, he traced the evolutionary course of the problem consciousness in China's Area and Country Studies, which has evolved from the pursuit of "national survival and racial preservation" in modern times, to "rural surveys" and "the unity of weak and small nations" during the revolutionary period, and further to the exploration of modernization after the founding of the People's Republic of China and the pattern of "mutual support between the East and the West" in the reform and opening-up era.
He emphasized that the subjectivity of China's Area and Country Studies is rooted in the critical reflection on the global unequal order and the profound concern for the decolonization movements in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Its purpose is to explore the possibilities of common ground and cooperation among different communities from China's experiential insights into its interactions with the world. This research approach places emphasis on relations of production, social relations and material foundations, and is committed to constructing a knowledge system with a Chinese perspective that can explain the development issues of the Global South.
As the representative of alumni, Professor Jing Yuejin from the School of Social Sciences at Tsinghua University delivered a speech entitled The Composition and Types of the Knowledge System of Chinese Political Science. Centering on the independent innovation of the social science knowledge system against the backdrop of China's rise, he shared his insights and reflections.
He pointed out that Western theories face inherent limitations in explaining China's experience, making it imperative to develop new concepts and paradigms that integrate Chinese and international perspectives. Professor Jing argued that the interpretation of China's experience must be grounded in the dialectical relationship between universality and particularity: when engaging with the West, we should emphasize the particularity of the Chinese path to break the discourse of its purported "universality"; when engaging with the Global South, we need to extract the elements of China's experience that hold universal reference value.
Chinese scholars should strive to translate local practices into academic concepts with scientific rigor and open-mindedness, ensuring that the development of Chinese social sciences is rooted in history and oriented toward the future, while embracing both China and the world.
The closing ceremony was chaired by Professor Zhang Ji from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University. First, Professor Zhang Ji expressed his gratitude to the School of International Relations and the Institute of Area and Country Studies at Renmin University of China for their thoughtful arrangements for this forum. The Forum on the Knowledge System of Chinese Political Science has now been successfully held for seven sessions. Co-hosted by the two universities, this forum is not only forward-looking but also strategic, and has made outstanding contributions to the construction of knowledge systems and the cultivation of professional talents. He welcomed everyone to attend the 8th forum at Fudan University next year.
In his speech, Professor Zhai Dongsheng from the School of International Relations and the Institute of Area and Country Studies at Renmin University of China stated that this forum featured a large scale, far-reaching influence and high-quality papers. He expressed his hope to gather with everyone at Fudan University next year to yield more fruitful achievements in the development of the independent knowledge system of political science.
The forum concluded successfully to warm applause.
The Forum on the Knowledge System of Chinese Political Science is co-hosted by Renmin University of China and Fudan University in rotation and has been held for seven consecutive sessions to date. By inspiring new research agendas and generating new ideas, the forum has become an important platform for advancing the construction of a new knowledge system of Chinese political science.