On the morning of April 2, a seminar on Building a Chinese School of Regional Comparative Studies and a press conference on "A Thorough Understanding of Southern Jiangsu" were held at the Suzhou Campus of Renmin University of China, co-sponsored by the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development of RUC and Suzhou Campus, hosted by the Institute of High-quality Development in the New Era of RUC and Jiangnan Academic Exchange Center.

Zhu Xinkai, executive vice president of RUC, Ni Gan, deputy director of the Management Committee of Suzhou Industrial Park, Li Bin, product director of Oriental Press, etc., attended the conference. Wen Tiejun, executive director of the Institute for Advanced Research on Sustainable Development of RUC, a distinguished expert on "Issues Relating to Agriculture, Rural Areas, and Farmers," and academic director of "A Thorough Understanding of Southern Jiangsu," was invited to deliver a keynote speech.

Zhu said that Renmin University of China is committed to building a Chinese independent knowledge system, and "A Thorough Understanding of Southern Jiangsu" is a landmark achievement of systematic research and interpretation of China's regional development experience under the comparative perspective of international development. He emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation and delivering more high-quality results in the future.

Ni Gan expressed his hope to further deepen the cooperation between the university and the city. Li Bin introduced the publishing process and content of the book and stressed its value in regional development research. Professor Wen gave a speech titled "The Experience of Southern Jiangsu under Globalization and Regional Competition: Government Rationality/Village Rationality/Southern Jiangsu Model" and deeply discussed the development experience of southern Jiangsu. Then the donation ceremony of the book to the Suzhou campus was carried out. Subsequently, the Chinese School Forum on the construction of regional comparative studies was held, with many scholars having in-depth discussions on the contents of the book.

A number of scholars from Fudan University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and other domestic institutions, officials from the Suzhou Campus, representatives of teachers and students from the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, and media representatives from all walks of life attended the meeting.