To mark the 22nd anniversary of the Shanghai Book Fair and the 12th anniversary of the Wangdao Reading Club, the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations, in collaboration with the Publicity Department of the Changning District Committee of the Communist Party of China, Oriental Publishing Center, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, and other partners, launched a joint branding project featuring “Wangdao Reading Club × Orient Reading Club × Li Xiang Changning.”On August 14, the special reading event “Seven Days, Seven Lectures” —Economic and Trade Chronicles of Nationswas held at China Publishing Bookstore.
At the opening of the event, Wang Weisong, Secretary of Party Members’ Group and Executive Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations; Chen Yiwang, Secretary of the CPC Committee and Chairman of the Board of Oriental Publishing Center; and Pan Guoli, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Changning District Committee and Director of the Publicity Department, jointly launched the joint branding project featuring“Wangdao Reading Club × Orient Reading Club × Li Xiang Changning.”
Professor Zhang Yiguo, Deputy Chairman of the University Council of SUIBE and chief editor of Economic and Trade Chronicles of Nations, attended the event and delivered a keynote speech. He discussed the purpose of the series and the historical context in which it was conceived.
During a panel discussion, three authors of individual volumes from SUIBE shared their experiences in compiling the series and discussed approaches to area studies and country studies. Professor Wang Jinqiang, Deputy Director of the Institute for Global Economic and Trade Governance and International Development Cooperation and author of the volume Ethiopia, noted that one of the core values of area and country studies lies in moving beyond one-dimensional perceptions of individual countries. Professor Zhang Weilei, Deputy Dean of the Graduate School and author of the volume Australia, shared her experience in the writing process, from Theories and Methods of Area and Country Studies to the Australia volume. Professor Wang Yanyan, Dean of the School of International Chinese Language Education and chief editor of the volume Slovenia, used Slovenia as an example to discuss methodological approaches to systematizing research materials and deepening theoretical analysis.
The first 13 volumes of the Economic and Trade Chronicles of Nations series, compiled with extensive efforts by SUIBE faculty members, have been officially published. The series covers countries including South Africa, Australia, Slovenia, Poland, South Korea, Morocco, Hungary, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Croatia, New Zealand, and as well as WTO and other international organizations.