Twin Events Shed Light on City's Achievements in Philosophy, Social Sciences

A forum on Tuesday highlighted Shanghai's stellar achievements in research in philosophy and social sciences while a concurrent exhibition, which opened at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, showcased the city's remarkable progress in the two fields.

The two events point to Shanghai's solid strides in developing an independent knowledge system for these fields. Over the past decade, local research has yielded fruitful results, while global shifts have created fresh development opportunities for the disciplines.

In his keynote speech, Lin Shangli, former dean of Renmin University of China, stressed the importance of accelerating the development of the disciplinary, academic and discourse systems of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics.

"Since ancient times, disciplines have been set up in light of changing social demands. Similarly, in view of our changing times, our academic disciplines must adapt and develop," said Lin.

Several other renowned scholars from research institutes and universities also delivered speeches on topics ranging from constructing an independent knowledge system, the importance of sticking to Marxism in conducting relevant researches, to the methodology in building an independent knowledge system.

Six parallel panel discussions were held in the afternoon focusing on theoretical dimensions of building an innovative knowledge system, scholarly expression and practical innovation of Chinese-style modernization, and the historical mission and responsibility confronting young social scientists in the new era.