Second Youth Academic Conference of CASS convenes in Beijing 

Members of the CASS Leading Party Members’ Group present awards for outstanding research reports and organization to representatives of the winners in the 2026 CASS Youth Hometown-Return Survey. Photo: Zhu Gaolei/CSSN 

Gao Xiang, president of CASS and secretary of its Leading Party Members’ Group, delivers an academic report at the conference. Photo: Zhu Gaolei/CSSN

The Second Youth Academic Conference of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) was held in Beijing on Oct. 13. Gao Xiang, president of CASS and secretary of its Leading Party Members’ Group, attended the conference and delivered an academic report. Also present were Hang Yuanxiang, head of the Discipline Inspection Group sent to CASS by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission and a member of the Leading Party Members’ Group; Li Xuesong, vice president of CASS and a member of the Leading Party Members’ Group; Jin Minqing, a member of the Leading Party Members’ Group and director general of the Institute of Contemporary China Studies at CASS; and Xue Songyan, secretary general of CASS and a member of the Leading Party Members’ Group.

Gao pointed out that scholarship is always a product of its times and that every era must develop scholarship of its own. The world is undergoing profound transformation as human history enters a new phase, and China’s national rejuvenation continues to gather momentum. Scholarship today must be guided by Marxism and the important expositions on philosophy and the social sciences by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. It should serve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and advance human civilization. Rooted in fine traditional Chinese culture, it should have distinctly Chinese characteristics and reflect the spirit of the times.

Gao called on scholars to thoroughly study the positions, viewpoints, and approaches embodied in Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and apply them in their academic work. Scholars should identify, investigate, and address the questions of their times while sustaining China’s cultural heritage and continually renewing its academic traditions. The interplay between history and the present, and between tradition and innovation, should generate new intellectual energy. The aim is to create scholarship that speaks to our era and advance human scholarship through creative inheritance.

Gao stressed that the future of Chinese scholarship—and of CASS itself—rests with the next generation. Today’s young scholars are working in the most favorable period in the Chinese nation’s history, with exceptional intellectual resources and material support. They have both the capacity and the responsibility to surpass their predecessors through rigorous, groundbreaking scholarship. They must remain committed to Marxism, take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as their guiding philosophy, remain loyal to the Party and its cause, and pursue scholarship grounded in conviction. They should emancipate their minds, seek truth from facts, think independently and present original ideas, engage with Western academia as equals and with dignity, and pursue intellectually vigorous scholarship. They must serve the country and its people, strengthen organized scientific research, apply their talents where the country needs them most, identify new avenues for scholarship as history unfolds, and pursue research informed by a deep sense of public responsibility. They should approach academic work with sincere devotion, advance scholarship through rigorous exchanges, and pursue their work with integrity.

CASS’s administrative departments and affiliated institutions, Gao said, should create more opportunities for young scholars, expand opportunities for promotion on exceptional merit, increase research funding, give equal weight to management and support, and guide young researchers to strengthen their political loyalty, deepen their commitment to the country, and strictly observe disciplinary requirements and rules. By serving the nation through scholarship, young scholars should gain experience, build resilience, broaden their perspectives, and develop their abilities. They should strive to lead academic progress, break new intellectual ground, and help shape a new chapter in the history of scholarship.

Seven young scholars spoke on behalf of their peers at the conference. They noted that the CASS Leading Party Members’ Group had drawn on the collective wisdom of cadres and researchers across the academy to formulate the “Three Consensuses.” These call for running CASS in accordance with the requirements set by General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee, committing to serving General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee, and taking Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the foundation and guiding vision for philosophy and the social sciences in the new era.

The speakers said that these principles had strengthened young scholars’ sense of mission and responsibility in serving General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee and encouraged them to align their academic pursuits with the broader work of the Party and the country. Guided by the “Three Consensuses,” they pledged to conduct research for the people and pursue scholarship marked by conviction, intellectual vigor, public responsibility, and integrity. By building on inherited traditions and pursuing innovation, they would accelerate the development of an independent knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and the social sciences, and contribute their knowledge and expertise to building a great modern socialist country and advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.

Under the theme “Inheritance, Innovation, and Standards,” the conference featured a main forum and eight subforums covering Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, AI-assisted research, global civilization studies, theoretical innovation through the “Two Integrations” (integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and its fine traditional culture), high-quality development, comprehensive law-based governance, regional and country studies, and the integration of research and education. Major research outputs by young CASS scholars since the 20th CPC National Congress were released at the event. Members of the CASS Leading Party Members’ Group presented awards for outstanding research reports and organization to representatives of the winners in the 2026 CASS Youth Hometown-Return Survey.

Attendees at the main venue and subvenues included CASS deputy secretaries general, leaders of the resident discipline inspection and supervision group, heads of CASS’s administrative departments and affiliated and administered institutions, young cadres and staff from across the academy, and student representatives from the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Hosted by CASS, the conference was jointly organized by its Party Committee of Directly Affiliated Organs, the Bureau of Scientific Research Management, and the Personnel Bureau.