The 5th World Forum on China Studies takes place at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai during March 23-24, 2013. Themed on “China’s Modernization: Road and Prospect”, this Forum attracts about 240 scholars and opinion-leaders from various fields and disciplines to study the development of China and its characteristics in the context of modernization, the prospect of the Chinese transformation following the most recent leadership transition, and the way of harmonious co-existence between China and the rest of the world in the backdrop of globalization. The intent of coping with these major issues is to increase our knowledge of the Chinese national conditions, both past and present, and to expand the consensus and cooperation between China and other countries.

The two-day Forum consists of an opening plenary session, three roundtable workshops, eight panels, and a concluding plenary session. The three roundtable workshops address the road of Chinese development including its prospect in the perspectives of international relations, domestic structural transition, and historical and cultural transformation. The eight panels, dealing with aspects of economy, politics, society, history and culture, ecology, diplomacy, communications, and China studies, are to review China’s performance over the past three decades, to assess the direction and dynamics of China’s continued modernization in the coming decade, to probe the way of China’s further integration into the global economy and global governance, and to examine the development and methodology of China studies today.

Of the around 240 scholars and opinion-leaders attending the Forum, nearly half of them are overseas participants, coming from over 20 countries and regions. Some renowned figures of both academic and other fields are invited to make key-note addresses, relating to:

• Implications, both real and imagined, of China’s rise to the political and economic landscape of the world;
• Prospect of shared prosperity of the Chinese and other emerging economies in particular;
• Role of the domestic Chinese consumption in sustaining an expected recovery of the world economy;
• Direction of China’s further reform and the future evolution of democracy with Chinese characteristics;
• Chinese culture and values and their dissemination to the international community;
• Efforts and approaches to construct a community of interests involving China and her neighbors;
• China studies as an emerging scholarship to integrate the intellect of diverse disciplines to interpret China.

At the opening ceremony of the 5th Forum, the Award for Outstanding Contributions to China Studies will be presented for a second time to the most distinguished scholars in the China studies community. This is an award of the highest honor established by the Chinese authorities in the field of humanities and social sciences to promote China studies overseas and to facilitate the friendly interchange between China and other countries.

At the 4th Forum when the award was initiated, the winners of the award were Jacques Gernet, formerly Deputy Administrator of Far East Institute, College of France; Philip A. Kuhn, Professor Emeritus, History and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University; Kazuko Mori, Professor Emeritus, Waseda University; and Igor Rogachev, Member of the Council of Federation, Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The 5th Forum will award the honor to three leading scholars in the field, who are to win respectively the Award for Outstanding Contributions to China Studies and a newly founded the Award for Outstanding Contributions to China Studies by Overseas Chinese.