On April 27, 2019, IESR Dean and Professor Shuaizhang Feng attended Symposium on Policy and Theory Research on Civil Affairs for a New Era, organized by the Center for Policy Research of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, PRC. The symposium was hosted by Hunan University and attracted more than 50 experts and scholars from various universities and research organizations to discuss the possibilities for intensifying research within this area. MCA Center for Policy Research Director Jiexiu Wang and Deputy Director Zhangliang Fu, Head of the Department of Civil Affairs of Hunan Province Baiyu Deng were one of the leading speakers in the symposium.

 As stated in the “Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Defining Its Policy and Research Base”, officially released by the Center for Policy Research, MCA, Jinan University along with other 23 universities and research institutions will be joining Policy and Theory Research Base of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. What is more, Professor Shuaizhang Feng has been delegated as JNU representative to carry out research with a focus on social welfare, and other related topics. The base will be following Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era (also known as Xi Jinping Thought, added to the Constitution of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) during the 19th National Congress in October 2017) in developing and giving full play to the new policy directives on civil affairs.

IESR Policy Research and Cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, PRC

In order to contribute to the national policy-making in China and therefore overall betterment of our society, Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR) established the Center for Policy Research (CPR) and has been extensively cooperating with various ministries and other subordinate government bodies both on a national and provincial level. Since IESR establishment in December 2015, our scholars have published a number of policy reports addressing the most important issues concerning people’s welfare in today’s China.

Our cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Affairs traces back to 2016. Since then, our institute has been entrusted several times by the Ministry of Civil Affairs to evaluate social care system regarding left-behind and other children living under difficult circumstances in the rural areas of Hunan, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Anhui, Guizhou and other provinces. The evaluation report was presented in Beijing by the team leader Prof. Shuaizhang Feng. In addition, professor has attended a number of different conferences and meetings administered by the Ministry of Civil Affairs over the years and, in 2018, he became a member of its Advisory Committee.