The Nanjing Forum 2024 opened at Nanjing University on October 19. Zhao Yan, Vice Governor of Jiangsu, and Tan Tieniu, Party Secretary of Nanjing University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences addressed the opening ceremony.

Zhao Yan emphasized the importance of communication and mutual learning to the development of diverse culture. He called on people to take pride and have confidence in their national culture, while gaining a better understanding of the cultures of other countries in Eastern Asia and their unique roles in empowering modernization. He stressed that being open-minded and inclusive and showing equal respect for all civilizations is essential to overcoming mistrust and avoiding clashes in favor of exchanges and dialogue between civilizations, and to the writing of a brilliant chapter for Asian civilizations.

Tan Tieniu called for in-depth communication between guests and scholars to spark new ideas and build consensus for shared development. He hoped that the collective wisdom of the orient can contribute new ideas to the explorative efforts in modernization and to the building of a community of shared future for mankind.  

The forum, themed “Tradition, Transformation, Creation—Modernization of East Asia”, witnessed the participation of nearly 200 scholars and experts from nine countries, who shared their understanding on heated topics such as the impact of Confucianism on the modernization of East Asia, AI-driven digital transformation, and social policies and innovation practices in Central Asia. In addition to the main forum, five sub-forums were hosted, covering topics such as the comparative study on social policies and innovation practices of East Asia, promoting industrial innovation and ESG in an integrated manner in the Asia-Pacific region, and AI-driven digital transformation in the Asia-Pacific region.