On April 7, the World Association for China Studies (WACS) convened a working meeting in Beijing. Zhao Rui, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and president of WACS, attended the meeting and delivered remarks.

Zhao emphasized that it is essential to guide WACS’s work with the spirit of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter to the inaugural World Conference on China Studies as well as President Xi Jinping’s important expositions on the development of philosophy and social sciences, advancing the high-quality development of China studies with a stronger sense of mission and responsibility. WACS should build on CASS’s distinctive characteristics and leverage its unique strengths. CASS is the national top academic research organization in the field of humanities and social sciences in China, and a national-level comprehensive research center for humanities and social sciences. WACS should fully perform its role as an academic organization to promote disciplinary development of China studies, and advance China studies with distinctive CASS characteristics. WACS should closely integrate its work with the overall framework of CASS’s international academic exchanges. As an international social organization, WACS should make full use of its platform to conduct more proactive, broader, and higher-quality global academic exchanges, and foster a shared academic community for China studies institutions and scholars worldwide.

Representatives of the WACS governing board, representatives from relevant administrative departments of CASS, the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the CASS Library, and the Center for Promotion of Cultural Development at CASS, as well as WACS staff members attended the meeting.