The unveiling ceremony of the Institute of Area Studies, Peking University (PKUIAS) was held at the Yingjie Exchange Center on April 12, 2018. More than 200 officials and scholars participated, including Liu Xincheng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and executive vice chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD); Tao Hongjian, counsellor of the Ministry of Education; and He Yaomin, vice president of Renmin University of China.
PKUIAS is a comprehensive academic platform for area studies that has as its main tasks the conducting of academic research, the cultivation of talent, serving as a think tank, and hosting international academic exchanges. Relying on the research bases at PKU, PKUIAS mobilizes the university's diversified academic strengths and long-existing networks at home and abroad. It integrates and revitalizes relevant academic teams and resources that are scattered in different faculties, and inspires the enthusiasm and initiative of their teachers and students, to construct a more rational, comprehensive, multi-leveled and coordinated interdisciplinary subject composition within the university. By strengthening research ability and exploring the interaction of different subjects, PKUIAS will not only meet the demands of the country but also foster a new type of academic talents.
Area studies is a field of study that synthesizes geographical, cultural, economic, political, sociological, folkloric, human behavioral, and institutional and organizational studies of world countries and regions within one platform. It conducts comprehensive studies that span humanities, social sciences, economic and technological developments both inside a given country and worldwide. Area studies aims to construct a comprehensive knowledge system to serve the world and its people. PKUIAS insists on the guidance of basic research and conducts both fundamental and predictive studies covering major issues in the key countries and regions. It provides a research paradigm with Chinese characteristics while making full use of PKU's advantages, to contribute to the country's area studies and international academic exchanges and development.
