Overview of the 20th Anniversary Celebration of School of Government, Sun Yat-sen University

On November 13, 2021, School of Government (SOG) of Sun Yat-sen University held a celebration for its 20th anniversary. The celebration mainly consisted of various academic events, including the opening of “Xia Shuzhang Forum”, MPA Academic Festival, and the release of academic research reports.

Prof. Xia Shuzhang, Honorary Dean of SOG and Prof. Xu Yong, Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences of Central China Normal University were invited to attend the morning event. The retired faculty, senior colleagues, alumni, serving faculty and enrolled students of SOG were also present.

Party Secretary Liu Zeyang presided over the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of anniversary celebration

The opening ceremony was presided over by Secretary Liu Zeyang. On behalf of SOG, Liu extended a warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to the guests attending the ceremony and also thanked the other sister institutions for their congratulatory letters. After the national anthem was performed and sung, distinguished guests launched the anniversary celebration and released the promotional film of the school, including Prof. Tan Ankui, Dean of SOG, Professor Chen Ruilian, representative of the retired faculty, Professor Guo Xiaocong, representative of the serving faculty, Mr. Qi Xinghua, Secretary General of the Alumni Association of SOG, Mr. Liu Wenhong, President of Alumni Association of MPA Program, and Ni Xiyang, representative of enrolled students. With the theme of “Growth” and focus of the sense of history, the promotional film of SOG highlights the founding mission of pursuing “good governance in China and the world”, and conveys the school’s values of seeking the common development of self, family, country and the world, as well as the courage to look to the future and go beyond.

Prof. Tan Ankui, Dean of SOG, delivered a speech

Later, Dean Tan Ankui delivered a speech. The Dean paid tribute to everyone who has made efforts for the development of the school. He stressed that academics and ideas are the ultimate judge of the growth of the school, and that is why the school is holding a celebration for the coming of age at 20 based on academics. At the age of 20, SOG has the courage to embrace change, the boldness to open a new chapter, and the consciousness to improve horizons, thus creating enough space for discovering a better self.  He pointed out that SOG has made commendable achievements on the foundation established by its predecessors, and the faculty with more professional visions, broader horizons and purer mindsets are the powerful force to overcome difficulties and promote growth.  He said the school has been striving to cultivate a culture that upholds “equality, mutual respect, and reciprocal support” in order to foster an academic community with sustained academic creativity to pursue the dream of being “world-class” together.

Prof. Ye Lin, Associate Dean of SOG, presided over the opening of “Xia Shuzhang Forum”

Prof. Xia Shuzhang, Honorary Dean of SOG, is a famous scholar of public administration and the major founder of contemporary public administration in China. In order to sharpen academics and inspire scholars, the school established the “Xia Shuzhang Forum” in the name of Prof. Xia, inviting distinguished scholars to give opening speeches, striving to make it a public platform to display academic wisdom of the discipline. The opening ceremony of the forum was presided over by Associate Dean Prof. Ye Lin. First of all, Prof. Huang Dongya, Assistant Dean, made a solemn introduction to the opening speaker of the forum, Prof. Xu Yong. After the introduction, Prof. Xia presented the commemorative medal of opening speech to Prof. Xu on the stage.

Prof. Huang Dongya, Assistant Dean of SOG, introduced the opening speaker of “Xia Shuzhang Forum”

The award of the commemorative medal of opening speech

Prof. Xu then gave a presentation entitled “‘Grassroots Society’ and Governance Innovation in a Unitary State”. Combining the concept of “governance” with traditional Chinese political discourse, Prof. Xu proposed the concept of “grassroots society” to describe the unique social formations under China’s unitary state structure. He systematically summarized the innovative experience of the governance in the grassroots society, prompting the audience to think deeply about the ways of governance in China. As the opening speech of “Xia Shuzhang Forum”, Prof. Xu’s presentation was highly insightful with a specific perspective and received wide acclaim from the audience.

Prof. Xu Yong made an opening speech for “Xia Shuzhang Forum”

Prof. Xiao Bin gave an academic commentary on the presentation. He argued that Prof. Xu’s presentation brought the perspective of political science back to the study of grassroots society, and grasped the complex and multi-faceted grassroots society in a panoramic approach through a horizontal comparison of state structures of China and America and a vertical retracing of Chinese history. He further expanded on the meaning of grassroots society in China from the perspective of political science by adding his own research and understanding.

Prof. Xiao Bin gave an academic commentary

Allan Rosenbaum, professor of Florida International University and President of the American Society for Public Administration, were also invited to give an online keynote presentation in the celebration, which reveals SOG’s appeal in cultural exchange. Prof. Rosenbaum congratulated SOG on its 20th anniversary and brought a presentation named “Public Administration as A Discipline: Where We Have Been, What We Have Missed and Where We Need to Go”. He made a brief history retrospect of public administration in the West, and expressed his concern for the global governance issues such as social inequality and lack of government capacity. He called on PA scholars to pay more attention to the impact of practical experience and the political environment on the PA discipline, and to think deeply about how to use the accumulated PA knowledge to promote changes and help the construction of an effective government.

Prof. Allan Rosenbaum made a keynote presentation

At the end of the event, student representatives presented flowers to the retired faculty to express the school’s respect for each and every faculty member who has contributed to the development of SOG and the discipline.

A group photo of the representatives of the retired faculty

The afternoon event included the 2nd MPA Academic Festival of Sun Yat-sen University, the launch of the annual research report of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the alumni symposium, the appointment ceremony of career mentors and the student-faculty exchanges, etc. The MPA Academic Festival invited students and alumni working in the frontline of public administration of MPA program to discuss with experts and scholar, so as to provide material and inspiration for the theoretical expression of “governance of China” and to promote the further merge of knowledge and practice in the field of PA.

The 2nd MPA Academic Festival of Sun Yat-sen University

Two major research reports, “People's Needs for a Better Life and Social Policy Innovation (2021 version)” and “Digital Transformation of Governance (2021 version): The Present and Future of Intelligent Construction of Government Services”, were released in the launch event, showing the disciplinary layout and phase achievements of SOG with the focus on practices of governance in the new era. Representatives of alumni from various regions in the province were also invited to participate an alumni symposium hosted by Deputy Party Secretary Tan Yingyao. The alumni guests exchanged ideas and offered advice on the future development of the school. While the appointment ceremony of career mentors and exchanges between students and faculty was hosted by Professor Chen Nabo, Assistant Dean, which aimed to promote exchanges between students and faculty and enrich the teaching practice of MPA program through the appointment of MPA career mentors.

The launch event of annual research report

Alumni symposium

The appointment ceremony of career mentors

School of Government of Sun Yat-sen University was established in 2001, with its disciplinary roots dating back to 1905. The school was established with the mission of pursuing “good governance in China and the world”, which demonstrates the school’s spirit of caring for the public, looking from a global perspective, and implementing high academic consciousness. In recent years, SOG has undergone the construction of platform and the adjustment of structure, forming a basic pattern to support its development with the two first-class disciplines, Political Science and Public Administration. The 20th anniversary celebration showcased the growth of SOG and provided a simple but meaningful platform for students and faculty to communicate.

A live picture of the 20th anniversary celebration