On May 17, Renmin University of China (RUC) held a press conference in collaboration with Peking University (PKU), Nankai University (NKU), Fudan University, and other prestigious Chinese universities to promote research achievements for the establishment of China’s independent knowledge system. During the conference, new theories were introduced, and research outcomes in fields such as economics and law were presented.

Wang Yong, deputy director of the Institute of New Structural Economics at PKU, pointed out that modern mainstream economics has its roots in the development experiences of Western developed countries. This approach typically uses the model of a single department to represent the entire economy or regards the industries, technologies, and systems of developed nations as the ideal structure.

Guided by historical materialism, new structural economics comprehensively sums up the development experiences of China and other developing countries to highlight the importance of economic structure more systematically, Wang said.

The theory of national development impetus, developed by a research team at Fudan, is based on the basic tenets of Marxism and grounded in China’s development practices. The theory aims to contribute to China’s independent knowledge system for the new era with development as the core perspective and strategic orientation. According to this theory, national development impetus is defined as forces that arise from the contradiction between productivity and relations of production. These forces are intended to ensure a country’s survival, promote its development, and enhance national strength. They can be categorized as survival forces and driving forces.

According to Wang Fan, a research fellow at Fudan Development Institute, survival forces include the sustaining power and vitality, while driving forces cover production, development, and innovation. Based on the role of the three driving forces in different stages of national development, countries can be further classified into production-driven, development-driven, and innovation-driven.

The national development impetus theory attempts to go beyond West-centric national construction and overcome epistemological constraints of traditional institutional and cultural competition. The theory respects the rights and initiative of all countries to chart their own modernization course and create new systems. Embracing a grand view of history, it offers in-depth explanations for the rise and fall of nations and interprets human history from the perspective of national impetus, Wang Fan said.

Zheng Xinye, dean of RUC’s School of Applied Economics, has led a research team to summarize and refine China’s poverty alleviation and development experiences, in an effort to bolster several new disciplines like Chinese development, poverty reduction, and borderland studies.

Introducing his team’s research outcome, Chinese Poverty Alleviation Practices and Knowledge Construction for Chinese Development Studies, Zheng said that it generalizes “China stories” to provide poverty reduction experiences for developing countries and seeks low-cost, sustainable solutions to problems facing human development.

The work demonstrates the universality of Chinese poverty reduction experiences, showing how such policies as “short-distance migration” and “photovoltaic poverty alleviation” can be replicated and generalized, through a systematic comparison and analysis of international classic theories on poverty reduction. The study also identifies distinctive features of China’s poverty reduction experiences. By drawing on these innovative practices, it develops a theoretical analysis paradigm that is tailored to China’s specific realities and constructs a policy framework that can meet the poverty governance requirements of China and even the world.

The conference also showcased a series of innovative outcomes relating to international law, including International Public Law (3rd Edition), International Private Law, and International Economic Law (2nd Edition). Xiao Yongping, director of the Institute of International Law at Wuhan University, said that the three works epitomize Chinese scholars’ efforts to build a Chinese independent knowledge system of international law by adhering to Marxist stances, viewpoints, and methods, implementing Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, interpreting China’s stances and propositions on international law, practicing the concept of the human community with a shared future, and applying a systematic approach to thinking.

The APEC Study Center at NKU released its latest research results on Asia-Pacific regional cooperation and global economic governance, such as Research on Regional Economic Integration in East Asia, Research on China’s Free Trade Zone Strategy, Overall Planning and Alignment of Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative, and Regional Economic Integration in Asia-Pacific: New Pattern and New Trends.

According to Liu Chenyang, director of the APEC Study Center, there has been a growing consensus among APEC members in recent years on advancing people-centered cooperation, to ensure that the benefits of regional economic cooperation are shared more fully and equally among the people of the region. Looking ahead, Liu called for further exploring the connotations of APEC’s “Asia-Pacific family” spirit and people-centered cooperation philosophy, integrating these concepts with the idea of a human community with a shared future to realize joint development through mutual promotion.