On the morning of August 22, 2020, the opening report meeting and academic seminar of the National Social Science Fund major project "Research on Contemporary Major Issues of Marxist Theory of Social Development" presided by Professor Lv Shirong from the School of Philosophy and Public Administration of Henan University was successfully held in the form of online meeting. The conference was sponsored by the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Philosophy and Public Administration of Henan University, and co-organized by the Center for Philosophical Studies of Henan University and the Institute of Marxism and Contemporary China. Professor Feng Ziyi, Director of the Research Center for Marxist Philosophy at Peking University, Professor Hao Lixin, former President of the School of Philosophy at Renmin University of China, Professor Sun Hui, former deputy editor-in-chief of China Social Science magazine, Professor Wang Xinsheng, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of Nankai University; Professor Tang Zhengdong, Department of Philosophy, Nanjing University; Professor Wang Yonggui, School of Marxism, Nanjing Normal University; Professor Zheng Yongkou, former Party Secretary of Zhengzhou University and President of Henan Philosophical Society; Professor Zhang Baoming, Deputy Party Secretary of Henan University; Liu Hui, Director of Henan Provincial Social Science Planning Office; Professor Zhan Long, dean of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of Henan University, Professor Ji Zhichuang, Dean of the School of Philosophy and Public Administration of Henan University, as well as more than 40 project team members, experts and scholars in related fields attended the meeting.

The meeting was divided into three sections. The opening ceremony was presided by Professor Zhan Long, dean of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of Henan University. Professor Zhang Baoming, deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Henan University, delivered a speech at first and introduced the basic information of Henan University, the School of Philosophy and Public Administration of Henan University and the discipline of Philosophy of Henan University. Professor Zhang Baoming expressed his gratitude and welcome to the experts attending the meeting, and sincerely hoped that all the experts could make suggestions on the National Social Science Fund major project with Professor Lv Shirong as the chief expert, and help the project team to complete this very valuable subject.

On behalf of the Social Science Planning Office of Henan Province, the director Liu Hui, extended her warm congratulations to Professor Lv Shirong and his research group, and expressed his heartfelt thanks to all the experts who have long cared about the philosophy and social sciences of Henan Province. He pointed out that from the perspective of research content and expected objectives, the National Social Science Fund major project "Research on the Contemporary Major Issues of Marxist Social Development Theory "presided by Professor Lv Shirong will certainly further advance the theoretical research of Marxist social development in answering the major questions of the times, and highlight the contemporary value of Marxist world outlook and methodology. He hoped that Professor Lv and her research team would stick to the right direction, establish a sense of excellence, strengthen unity and cooperation, and carry forward the fine style of study. In addition, he hoped the team will work hard to produce high-quality research results and make new contributions to the development of philosophy and social sciences in Henan.

Professor Zheng Yongkou, former Party Secretary of Zhengzhou University and President of Henan Philosophical Society, said in his speech that Professor Lv Shirong had devoted herself to the theoretical research of Marxist social development for many years and had a profound research foundation. A major project of the National Social Science Foundation of China, "Research on Contemporary Major Issues in Marxist Theory of Social Development", has a strong research team, and its research content is basic, realistic and forward-looking. At the same time, he made three suggestions for the research of the subject: First, basic theoretical research should reflect the power of logic; Second, the study of major issues should reflect the changes of the times; Third, the way out of social development must be able to provide strategic guidance.

The second session of the conference was an opening report presided by Professor Ji Zhichuang, Dean of The School of Philosophy and Public Administration, Henan University.

Professor Lv Shirong, the chief expert of the project, reported the project from four aspects: the overall problem, the research framework, the research ideas and the key points and difficulties. Professor Lv pointed out that the overall problem of this subject is the vitality of Marxist theory of social development in the face of major practical and theoretical problems in contemporary society. That is, in answering the major questions of the times, we should further promote the study of Marxist theory of social development and highlight the contemporary value of Marxist theory of social development and its methodology. The main content of this research includes seven aspects: accurately understanding the content and spiritual essence of the classical Marxist theory of social development; grasping and improving the contemporary social development of major issues; constructing the contemporary form of Marxist theory of social development; discussing the possibility and condition of new changes of capitalism and its departure from capitalism; the logic of the formation and development of China's road and its status and significance in the course of world history; the development of science and technology and the future development of mankind; as well as the relationship between cultural contradictions in the contemporary world and Marxist ideology theory. The topic consists of an introduction and five sub-topics, in which the introduction gives a general overview of the problem area of the topic and the positions, perspectives, principles and methods of studying the issue. The five sub-topics are: the contemporary interpretation and construction of Marxist theory of social development; Marxist thought on the law of social development and the new changes of capitalism; Marx's assumption on the development path of non-capitalist countries and China's road; Marxist view of science and technology and critique of "technological society" and contemporary social and cultural contradictions and their solutions from the perspective of Marxist ideology. Professor Lv Shirong said that the general idea of this research is based on the text; focusing on revealing the basic content and spiritual essence of the Marxist theory of social development. The subject takes the question as the clue to carry out the research, including the contemporary society's reality question, the theory question and China's contemporary reality question, the theory question, it also includes the challenges posed by major problems in practice to Marx's theory of social development, and the doubts and misinterpretations of Western scholars on Marxist theory of social development. In exploring the understanding and application of Marxist theory of social development, we should deepen the specific content and contemporary value of Marxist theory of social development. The key problems to be solved in this research mainly include three aspects: One is to accurately understand the basic content, basic principles and methods of the classical Marxist theory of social development; Second, the accurate grasp and promotion of contemporary major issues; Third, the relationship between Marxist theory of social development and contemporary major issues.

Then, professor Liu Huaiyu from The Philosophy Department of Nanjing University and Professor Yang Siji from the School of Politics and Management of Soochow University respectively made supplementary speeches on their sub-projects. Professor Liu Huaiyu, the leader of sub-project 1, pointed out that the main content of this sub-project is to systematically sort out the basic content and spiritual essence of Marxist social development theory, reveal the difference and continuity of classical Marxism in solving the problems of human social development, highlight it in the contemporary theory and reality of the major issues, and then clarify its differences with various social development theories, put forward some ideas of constructing Marxist theory of contemporary social development and clarify the misunderstanding and doubt of different viewpoints on the development theory of Marxism. Professor Yang Siji, the leader of sub-topic 2, pointed out that the research of this sub-topic should sort out the laws of social development of Marxism and the thought of the historical destiny of capitalism, explore the relationship between economic globalization and the new changes in capitalism and the manifestations of the new changes in capitalism and further problems arising therefrom and reveal the essence and root of the new changes of capitalism. Moreover, the subtopic study should clarify various non-Marxist understandings of the new changes in capitalism and further explore the application and deepening of Marxism in the analysis of new changes in capitalism.

In the expert review section，Professor Feng Ziyi, director of the Research Center of Marxist Philosophy and Professor Boya of The Department of Philosophy of Peking University, affirmed the previous work of the research group. He thinks that the ideas and contents should be improved in the research, and puts forward some suggestions for the research. He pointed out that in the study of this subject, it is very important to define the Marxist theory of social development and refine the major contemporary issues and it is necessary to realize two-way interaction between studying major social issues with Marxist theory of social development and enriching Marxist theory of social development with research on major issues. In the study of every major issue, we should not stop at general investigation and elaboration, but should highlight the pertinence of reality and focus on the major contemporary issues in China. At the same time, he believes that a total of four research ideas are possible, but what to talk about in general, and what to talk about in particular, need to continue to think. His suggestion is that the general framework should not be designed too large, and the development process of Marxist social development theory should be sorted out as succinctly as possible; The modern value of The Marxist theory of social development should be highlighted from the solution of major contemporary problems, the comparison with other theories, the experiences and lessons of other countries in the process of development, and China's development path. The theoretical part can be further refined, thought and improved. For example, the development of contemporary capitalism, the evaluation of various socialist ideological trends in the West, the law and path of development, globalization, modernity, civilization, ideology or culture. These all contain important contemporary questions worth studying.

Professor Hao Lixin, former dean of the School of Philosophy of Renmin University of China and Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education, first congratulated Professor Lu's research team and put forward his own suggestions. In his opinion, in the study of this topic, it is necessary to think deeply about the relationship between Marxist theory of social development and the whole Marxist theory system, especially historical materialism, the relationship between basic theory and methodology, the relationship between major theoretical issues and major practical issues, and the relationship between traditional theory and contemporary society. He thinks that the understanding and expression of key words such as "past", "present" and "future" should be extended as far as possible. At the same time, in the summary of the basic theory and its methodological connotation and characteristics, it can be deepened from their internal level and logic, which should reflect the critical orientation, constructive orientation and overall orientation including politics, economy and so on. He also believes that the understanding of the major issues in contemporary society can be further improved.

Sun Hui, former deputy editor-in-chief of China Social Science magazine, said in his speech that the project has a broad vision and a rigorous design, while the object and content of the study are urgently needed by society. In his opinion, in the research of this subject, China and the world should be taken into account as much as possible. The research should not only be reflected in the theoretical summary of China's comprehensive realization of a well-off society and the contribution of China's development to the Marxist theory of social development, but also be examined China's development in the context of global exchanges and the course of world history. In addition, how does China's development experience reflect the construction of modernity and surpasses the western modernity thought is also a question worth thinking about.

Professor Wang Xinsheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Nankai University, Vice President and Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education, spoke highly of the research value of the subject and believed that it would be of great significance to truly use Marxist theory to explain major contemporary issues. At the same time, he believed that the research group has a strong lineup and was full of expectations for the project to be completed with high-quality research results. For the research, he also put forward his own suggestions and expectations. He hoped that the research group could think more deeply about how to connect the discourse of Marxist social development theory and the discourse of social history theory , He believed that Lenin’s thoughts on how to build socialism are constructive for thinking about major issues in contemporary social development, suggesting that some attention can be paid to what kind of system should be established to solve the problems in social development. At the same time, he reminded the research team to pay attention to the internal relationship between the sub-topics and the thinking and logic of the discussion.

Professor Tang Zhengdong, Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education and professor of Philosophy of Nanjing University, affirmed the subject from the aspects of the main research content accurately covering sub-topics and the strength of the research team. He suggested that in the study of sub topics 2, 4 and 5, it is possible to include research and thinking about problems such as the inability of contemporary capitalism to face the major problems of human destiny, the inability to face the internal class and stratification, the inability to face the transformation of labor and economic relations, the inability to face ecological and climate crises and the overall recession of the economy. In the research of sub-topic 3, we can in-depth study of the major measures that China is currently advancing, such as the community of common destiny for all mankind, the Belt and Road Initiatives, and the sharing of cultural fields, and put the community of common destiny for all mankind and the socialist road with Chinese characteristics in theory Communicate and face up to contemporary Chinese practical innovations, theoretical innovations and conceptual innovations.

In his speech, Professor Wang Yonggui, Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education and the School of Marxism at Nanjing Normal University, suggested that basic theories should be thoroughly explored in the subject research, the contemporary significance of Marxist classical writers' theories on social development should be deeply studied, and the research results of Western Marxist theories should be absorbed critically. He believed that some moderate social surveys can be carried out selectively in the research of this subject to pay more attention to the relevant discussions in the process of China's national conditions and the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In addition, he also made suggestions on the output of the research results and the exchange and discussion in the research process.

The third session of the conference was an academic seminar, hosted by Professor Tang Zhengdong of Nanjing University. Experts at the meeting exchanged views on the major issues of Marxism and contemporary social development. Professor Zhou Hong, vice president of Changshu Institute of Technology, delivered a speech first. He elaborated on the cultural restriction and promotion of social development in China from four aspects: the content composition of culture, the cultural field and composition of contemporary China's development, the cultural restriction of today's China's development, and the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics to promote the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Then, Professor Chen Shengyun, director of the Philosophy Teaching and Research Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party School, Professor Chen Peiyong, vice president of the School of Marxism at Peking University, a Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education, Professor Li Chengwang, School of Marxism, Tsinghua University, Professor Sun Liang, School of Philosophy, East China Normal University, Associate Professor Zhou Ke，School of Philosophy, Wuhan University, respectively used "Xi Jinping Thought to enrich and develop Marxist theory of social development", "contemplate the contemporary construction of Marxist liberalism under the epidemic", "inspect the historical materialism dimension of social development and its contemporary effects", "A critique of psychopharmacology and late Capitalism", "Engels and the Leap Theory of Kafdin Canyon" as the theme, expounding their own research results and academic thinking.

Finally, Professor Lv Shirong, the chief expert of the project, made a summary and thanked to the expert group and the participating experts for their pertinent evaluation and constructive suggestions on the project. He said that he would further improve the project design and complete the project research with high quality on the basis of fully absorbing the suggestions of the expert group.

（Translator：Li Bin-qian, Li Xue-li）