Dean speech

Since its establishment as the Department of Philosophy in the 1970s, the School of Public Policy and Management (hereinafter referred to as the School) has been steadfastly pursuing our dreams and aspirations amid challenges and adversities. Thanks to the support from all walks of life as well as the concerted efforts of several generations, the School now boasts a national first-class undergraduate program of Public Administration and a master program of Public Administration as a first-class discipline, and has been authorized to grant an MPA degree. Also, in 2018, the School was made the only educational institution in Guangxi to be able to grant a doctoral degree in Public Administration as a first-class discipline. Public Administration is now a key discipline in Guangxi and under Guangxi University's "Project 211" and "Project for Improving the Comprehensive Strength of Higher Educational Institutions in Central and Western China." As per the requirements of the discipline assessment panel for Public Administration under the State Council, the School has set up two major second-class disciplines: Administrative Management and Public Policy. Moreover, combining Guangxi's regional conditions and advantages, it set up the distinctive second-class discipline of Green Development and Borderland Governance and the frontier second-class discipline of Emergency Management and Digital Governance with insight. The School currently houses a provincial-level key research base for humanities - the Regional Social Governance Research Center, and has accordingly established specialized research institutions such as the Department of Administrative Management, the Department of Public Policy, the Department of Labor and Social Security, the Department of Land Resources Management, the Institute of Green Development and Border Governance, the Institute of China-ASEAN Regional Governance, the Institute of Emergency Management and Digital Governance, the Institute for Strengthening the Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation, and the Research Center for Guangxi Government Affairs as well. Therefore, it now enjoys distinct features and dominance in areas such as green development and border governance, ecological governance, innovative regional social governance, primary-level governance, and rural revitalization.

Our predecessors like Professor Li Zhihuan, the former director of the Department of Philosophy, made relentless efforts to explore pedagogical reform and expand our disciplines, which laid a solid foundation for the development of the School. Professor Xie Shun, the former dean of the School and the winner of Guangxi’s "Outstanding Scholar" award, along with one of the earliest innovative higher-education teams led by him contributed greatly to the quality development of the School, forming the bedrock of its high-standard advancement in the new era.

Currently, Guangxi is embracing a myriad of opportunities. For example, China-ASEAN economic cooperation enables Guangxi to achieve high-quality development with the operation of the Pinglu Canal in full swing and the sound development of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone. In the new era and at the new stage, we must fully, accurately, and comprehensively understand and implement the new development philosophy and bear in mind "the Five Greater" requirements" as well as the instructions of "free the mind, break the ground with innovation, give full play to ocean economy and pursue open development" made by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his tour of inspection in Guangxi. We must tap the local potential and cooperate with ASEAN so as to focus on the regional green-ethnic-border characteristics, cultivate high-level inter-disciplinary talents, and integrate our school’s programs with green development. By doing so, we will be able to continuously meet the needs of governance over Guangxi's high-quality economic and social development.