On September 20-21, the 2nd Annual China Finance Conference (2024) was held in Beijing, focusing on "Deepening Financial Reform and Accelerating the Building of a Financial Powerhouse." The conference aimed to promote deep exchanges and innovation in finance as a discipline, contributing to the high-quality development of finance and advancing China's path to financial development.
Jointly hosted by RUC and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the conference was organized by RUC's National Academy of Financial Research, ICBC's Modern Finance Research Institute, RUC's School of Finance, the China Modern Finance Society, and RUC's China Fiscal and Financial Policy Research Center. The conference featured six thematic forums, an opening forum, a prelude forum, and the second meeting of the Council of the Alliance for the Autonomous Knowledge System of Chinese Financial Studies. Over 400 experts and representatives from more than 100 universities and ICBC attended the event.
On the morning of September 21, the opening forum was held, with speeches by Zhang Donggang, Chair of the University Council, and Liu Jun, President of ICBC. The forum was chaired by Zhuang Yumin, Director of the School of Finance and Executive Director of the National Academy of Financial Research.
In his speech, Zhang Donggang emphasized that finance is the lifeblood of the national economy and plays a key role in China's development.. Zhang called for advancing China's modernization, and constructing an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese finance. He encouraged participants to contribute to the building of China's financial knowledge system and to the nation's development and rejuvenation.
Liu Jun highlighted the significant changes occurring in the international financial system and the dual pressures China faces in financial development. He emphasized the importance of constructing a robust financial risk management system and the need for institutional innovation in the era of the digital economy. The collaboration between RUC and ICBC in hosting the conference, he said, aimed to create a platform for exchanging financial ideas and driving the development of finance.
During the conference, the appointment ceremony for the external academic committee representatives of the National Academy of Financial Research and the renaming ceremony of *Modern Finance Research* were held.
Keynote speeches were delivered by several distinguished scholars, including Li Yang, former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Wu Xiaoqiu, former Vice President of RUC. The session was moderated by Yang He, Vice President of the ICBC Modern Finance Research Institute.
In the afternoon, more than 100 experts and young scholars from across the country engaged in discussions on six key topics, including "High-Quality Development of the Insurance Industry," "Digital Finance and Banking Transformation," "Green Finance and Sustainable Development," "Financial Risk Management and Policy," "Financial Markets and Investment Behavior," and "Banks and Macroeconomic Policy."
The prelude forum, held on the afternoon of September 20, brought together 11 Directors of finance faculties from leading universities, including Zhao Xijun from RUC, Wang Qing from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, and Liu Xiaolei from Peking University. The discussions centered on "Integration and Innovation in Finance to Build a Financial Powerhouse." The forum was moderated by Song Ke from RUC and Tan Songtao, Director of RUC's National Economics Textbook Construction Research Base.
The second meeting of the Council of the Alliance for the Autonomous Knowledge System of Chinese Financial Studies was held on the evening of September 20. Representatives from ten leading universities, including RUC, Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Fudan University, discussed future directions for the alliance, shared research trends in finance, and explored the role of finance in China's modernization.
The Annual Conference of Chinese Financial Studies (ACCFS) was first held in 2023. At that time, RUC's School of Finance initiated the establishment of the Alliance for the Autonomous Knowledge System of Chinese Financial Studies, comprising more than 100 universities with master's programs in finance.
