Recently, the Conference on Literature and Translation from the Perspective of Country and Region studies (CRS) and the World Youth Model United Nations (hereafter the Model UN) Conference was held at Zhuoyu Auditorium, CUEB. China’s first translation alliance for universities of finance and economics was launched at the event. Representatives came from the China Center for International People-to-People Exchange (CCIPE), Ministry of Education (MOE); the Academy of Translation and Interpretation of China International Communications Group (CICG); Schools of Foreign Studies of 27 finance and economics universities nationwide; six industry alliances; and publishing presses. A total of 240 teachers and students from 118 schools across the country attended both sessions. Li Kunpeng, Member of the Party Committee and Vice-President of CUEB, delivered an opening-ceremony address.

He welcomed the experts and scholars and highly commended the achievements made by the School of Foreign Studies in discipline building and international-oriented talent training. He expected all participants to build academic consensus and produce high-quality research outputs. Huang Yulong, President of the CICG Academy of Translation and Interpretation, interpreted the responsibilities and missions of translation in the new era against the backdrop of national international-communication development. He voiced high expectations for the high-level academic dialogue platform built by this conference. Zhou Yan, former Deputy Secretary-General of the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) and expert on the Expert Steering Committee of the New-Youth Global-Competence Talent Development Program, stressed the core role of translation in fostering talents with global competence. She noted that Model UN activities help students sharpen language skills, develop cross-cultural communication literacy and broaden their global vision. Liu Chongxiao, Deputy Party Secretary and Dean of the School of Foreign Studies, presided over the opening ceremony.

The keynote session followed. Huang Youyi, Vice-President of the China Academy of Translation, Director of the Expert Committee of the National Committee for Graduate Education in Translation and Interpreting (GETI), and former Deputy Director-General of CICG, explained the contemporary value and practical approaches of translation with practical cases. Wang Kefei, Distinguished Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and Honorary Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, illustrated the multiple functions of translation. He sorted out in-depth links between translation and Country and Region studies. Fan Daqi, Research Fellow and Vice-President of the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies (ACCWS), as well as Executive Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Translators Journal, elaborated methods and strategies for translating China to the world. He offered practical paths for building China’s international-discourse system. Peng Qinglong, Dean of the Institute of Country and Region Studies at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), focused on the AI era. He pointed out transformation directions for foreign-language disciplines covering science-humanity integration and Country and Region studies. Xiang Mingyou, Dean of the School of English at University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Vice-Director of the National Advisory Committee for College Foreign Language Teaching (Ministry of Education), and Member of GETI, analyzed the responsibilities and unique value of foreign-language professionals for international communication. His analysis was rooted in the perspective of international-communication practitioners. Professors Jin Li from BFSU, Li Dandi from Zhejiang Gongshang University, Zhang Lu from Lanzhou University of Finance and Economics, and Huang Leping from Tianjin University of Commerce chaired the keynote reports respectively.

The conference also hosted an Editor Forum and three parallel forums. Participants exchanged views on cutting-edge trends in foreign-language studies, standards for academic paper writing, journalsubmission tips and growth paths for young scholars.

The National Translation Alliance for Universities of Finance and Economics was jointly formed by 35 finance-and-economics universities, language-service enterprises and research institutions. It aims to build a collaborative-innovation platform for finance translation. It will advance translation standard development, resource sharing and reforms in talent training models. It serves national capacity building for international communication in finance. The Beijing session of the World Youth Model UN kicked off alongside the main conference. It focused on global ecological governance, mutual learning among civilizations and youth responsibility, providing an international practice platform for young people.

This event forms part of CUEB’s 70^th anniversary celebration series. Going forward, the School of Foreign Studies will further advance discipline development. It will deepen collaboration between the university and local partners as well as among universities. It will innovate training modes for globally oriented talents so as to further contribute to the high quality development of China’s international communication and foreign-language education.