The 2026 Annual Meeting of the China Population Association (CPA) was held at the Nanhu Campus of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL) from July 10 to 11. Themed “High-Quality Population Development: Promoting Well-Rounded Human Development and Common Prosperity for All,” the meeting was hosted by the CPA and organized by the School of Economics of ZUEL. Over 2,000 participants across the country attended the meeting, including university faculty and students, researchers from academic institutions, professionals and practitioners in the population sector, and representatives from provincial (regional, municipal) population associations and related organizations. The event provided a high-level national platform for academic exchange, forging close integration between theoretical research and policy practice.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Yang Wenzhuang, president of the CPA. Yang Yunyan, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hubei Provincial People’s Congress; Wang Haidong, director of the Department of Population Monitoring and Family Development of the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China; and Hou Zhenfa, Party Secretary of ZUEL, attended the conference and delivered speeches.
Yang Wenzhuang, President of the CPA
Yang Yunyan, Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hubei Provincial People’s Congress
Wang Haidong, Director of the Department of Population Monitoring and Family Development of the National Health Commission
Hou Zhenfa, Secretary of the CPC Committee of ZUEL
Keynote Reports: In-Depth Insights into Six Academic Frontiers
Tong Yufen, a professor at Capital University of Economics and Business and vice president of the CPA, chaired the keynote session. Cai Fang, a renowned population economist, Member of the Academic Division and First-Class Research Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), delivered a report titled “Promoting High-Quality Population Development Through Investment in People.” Li Shuzhuo, a senior professor of humanities at Xi’an Jiaotong University, shared insights on “The Evolution of Global Population Science Themes Over the Past Century and China’s Footprint,” tracing the developmental stages of global population science based on big data from massive Chinese and foreign literature. Song Jian, a National Distinguished Professor at the School of Population and Health at Renmin University of China, delivered a report titled “Understanding Family Transformation in the Process of Modernization.” Professor Wang Jianliu, Party Secretary and vice president of Peking University People’s Hospital, presented a report titled “The Importance of Prioritizing Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients,” drawing on clinical practice. Professor Zhang Zhen, director of the Population Research Institute at Fudan University, delivered a presentation titled “From Political Arithmetic to Algorithmic Governance: The Non-Neutral Genealogy of Demography and the Generative Construction of Autonomous Knowledge.” Professor Shi Zhilei, dean of the School of Economics at ZUEL and a National Distinguished Professor, presented a report titled “China’s Fertility Revolution: Five Core Theses,” summarizing the five major characteristics of the current domestic fertility transition.
Sub-forums: 75 Thematic Discussions Forge Academic Consensus
A total of 75 sub-forums were held in parallel at Wenhuan Building on the Nanhu Campus from the afternoon of July 10 through July 11. The forums brought together experts and scholars to discuss topics including the development of an independent knowledge system in demography, fertility support and family development, governance of an aging society, population migration and mobility, coordinated regional population development, population economics and common prosperity, modern methods of demographic statistical analysis, and AI-empowered population governance.The discussions comprehensively addressed cutting-edge issues and pressing challenges across demography and related interdisciplinary fields.
This conference was a high-level academic event for China’s demography community and the largest national academic conference ever organized by ZUEL. Its successful convening furthe relevated ZUEL’s academic influence in demography and related interdisciplinary fields and created a crucial platform for ZUEL to deepen cooperation with China’s health-care system, universities, and research institutions. Building on the conference, ZUEL will continue to promote the deep integration of population research and higher education to make greater contributions to Chinese modernization.
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Reported by: Huang Yaqun