The Third China Social Entrepreneurship Research Forum and Seminar on the Development of Entrepreneurship Management, sponsored by College of Business （COB） of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics （SUFE）, the Social Entrepreneurship Committee of the China Enterprise Management Research Association, and the Journal of Economic Management jointly, and hosted by the Department of Enterprise Management of COB，SUFE, was held on November 21, 2021. Experts and scholars in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship from Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, National Sun Yat-sen University and Indiana University attended the Forum Online. SUFE’s Executive Vice President Xu Fei, Vice President Liu Lanjuan and Vice President Chen Xinyuan attended the event.

Xue Liping, Chair of the Council of COB, SUFE, hosted the opening ceremony. On behalf of the university, Chen Xinyuan, Vice President and member of the Standing Committee of SUFE, gave a speech , in which heemphasized that discipline development was the lifeblood of a university and cultivating high quality talent was its central task. Providing solutions to social problems through social entrepreneurship should be a significant part of business education. Afterwards, Wei Hang, COB’s Associate Executive Dean, delivered a speech in which he stated that the discipline of entrepreneurship management required business schools to actively respond to the country’s strategic changes. We should strongly promote business education in the future, particularly in  the aspects of discipline development and talent cultivation. On behalf of the co-sponsors, Liu Jianli, Deputy Editor-n-Chief and Editorial Director of Journal of Economic Management, gave a speech highlighting the role on  high-quality academic research in promoting national innovation-driven development.

At the scene of the opening ceremony,  the Special Committee on Social Entrepreneurship and Governance of China Enterprise Management Research Society was founded. On behalf of the Association, Huang Sujian, Chairman of the China Enterprise Management Research Association, raised  the expectation that the special committee would uphold the principles of “establishing the association through academic approach, developing it through innovation, and vitalizing it through service” and to work closely with industry professionals around China to improve social innovation and entrepreneurship.

The China Social Entrepreneurship Research Forum, initiated by SUFE, is a high-end forum in the field of social innovation and entrepreneurship. The Forum is dedicated to displaying the most recent theoretical and practical results in global social innovation and entrepreneurship research, as well as bringing new knowledge to practice. The theme of this forumwas “New development ideas and social entrepreneurship”. At the Forum, many well-known scholars, such as Huang Qunhui, President of the China Enterprise Management Research Association and Director of the Economic Department of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Hunan Industrial and Commercial University, Chen Xiaohong, Chairman of the Business Administration Teaching Committee of the Ministry of Education and President of the Xi’an Jiaotong University of Liverpool, Xi Youmin, former Deputy Party Secretary of the Jilin University, Cai Li, Zhang Yuli, Founding Director of the Entrepreneurship Research Center at Nankai University, Chen Chunhua, Wang Kuancheng Chair Professor at Peking University, Zhu Dajian, Director of the Research Institute of Sustainable Development and Management at Tongji University, and Zhao Yanfei, professor at Indiana University, Liu Zhiyang, Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Committee of the China Enterprise Management Research Association and Professor at COB, SUFE, gave a keynote speech respectively.

The forum also held six parallel - workshops on “Social Entrepreneurship and Spirit of Social Entrepreneurship”, “Social Entrepreneurship and Institutional Environment”, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development”, “Entrepreneurship Research in an Era of Change”, “Innovative Development and Inclusive Finance”, and “The power of Social Entrepreneurs’ action”. Nearly 200 experts and scholars from Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China and so on participated. The forum also held an English-language paper workshop in collaboration with the journal Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene.

The discipline of entrepreneurship management is insignificant for the development of business studies in our university. The forum also held the first seminar on Entrepreneurship Management Discipline Development in order to promote the development of entrepreneurship management discipline. Prof. Liu Zhiyang and Prof. Dong Jing and Prof. Lin Nan from COB, SUFE chaired the seminar.

Professor Xu Fei, Executive Vice President ofSUFE, spoke on behalf of the university. He pointed out  that entrepreneurship management research, as an emerging frontier research area, required the collaboration of experts and scholars. It is vital to improve the entrepreneurial theory with Chinese characteristics and show the Chinese style in the entrepreneurial practice.

Professor Lin Song, Dean of COB of Central University of Finance and Economics; Professor Yu Xiaoyu, Associate Dean of the School of Management of Shanghai University, Professor Zhang Xiao from Nanjing University Business School, Professor Li Dayuan, Associate Dean of the COB of Central South University,Professor Davidge, Associate Dean of the School of Business Administration of Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Professor Ren Rongwei, Associate Dean of School of Management of Sun Yat-Sen University, Professor Dong Zhengying from Antai School of Economics and Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Professor Shi Liangxing from Department of Management and Economics of Tianjin University, Professor Wei Feng from School of Economics and management of Tongji University, Associate Professor Sun Jinyun from School of Management of Fudan University; and Professor Li Zhigang from School of Management of Ocean University of China, attended the seminar. Professor Zhang Yuli from Nankai University, Professor Lei Jiansu from Tsinghua University, Professor Dai Guoqiang from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Professor Ge Baoshan from Jilin University and Professor Zhang Xinan from Shanghai Jiao Tong University made comments respectively online.

The forum was fruitful. For the first time, the Forum presented the 2021 Award of Excellence in ChinaSocial Entrepreneurship Research, which was co-sponsored by the Research Center of Social Entrepreneurship of SUFE and the Chinese Enterprise Management Research Association. At the forum, the China Social Entrepreneurship Research Report 2021, the China Listed Companies Social Responsibility Information Disclosure Report 2021, and the Annual Research Report of COB, SUFE were released.

At the same time, the Entrepreneurship School of SUFEheld the 5th Social Entrepreneur Award Ceremony, during which  15 outstanding social entrepreneurs were selected. Liu lanjuan, Vice President of SUFE, attended the forum. She highlighted the importance of promoting the integration of industry and education, as well as serving national and local development with the advantages of university’s talent cultivation.