Making contributions to and providing excellent services to Pinggu 2020 World Leisure Congress

On April 16, 2021, Pinggu 2020 World Leisure Congress was grandly opened in Jinhaihu International Convention and Exhibition Center in Pinggu District, Beijing. Cai Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee attended the congress and announced the opening of the congress. Hu Heping, Vice Minister of Publicity Department of China and Minister of Culture and Tourism of China, Chen Jining, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Mayor of Beijing, and Joanne Schroeder, President of the World Leisure Organization delivered speeches respectively. Wang Hong, vice mayor of Beijing, presided over the opening ceremony. The congress was hosted by Beijing Municipal Government and World Leisure Organization, organized by Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Administration and People's Government of Pinggu District, and supported by Beijing International Studies University.

Cai Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, attended the congress and announced the opening of the congress

Hu Heping, Vice Minister of Publicity Department of China and Minister of Culture and Tourism of China, delivered a speech

Chen Jining, Mayor of Beijing, delivered a speech

Joanne Schroeder,President of the World Leisure Organization, delivered a speech

As the world’s top academic event in the area of leisure, the congress takes "Leisure Improves The Quality of Life" as the theme, invites well-known experts, scholars, and representatives of enterprises from home and abroad in order to exchange the latest academic achievements, the developmental trend of leisure industry, exhibit global leisure products, share and discuss the  classic cases so as to accelerate the development of leisure industry in Beijing. Gu Xiaoyuan, Secretary of the Party Committee of BISU, and Ji Jinbiao, President of BISU attached great importance to the organization of the congress, gave full guidance, gathered all the efforts of BISU, and provided all-round services to the congress. President Ji Jinbiao attended the opening ceremony and the main forum.

President Ji Jinbiao attended the opening ceremony and the main forum, and delivered a speech at the launching ceremony of the Think Tank

Zou Tongqian, Assistant to the President of BISU and Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of the World Leisure Congress, presided over the main forum. Zhu Shanzhong, Executive Director of the United Nations World Tourism Organization(UNWTO) made the congratulatory speech. Christina, Chief Operating Officer of the World Leisure Organization delivered a speech on “Leisure in the Knowledge Society”. Ou Xiaoli, Director of Social Development Department of National Development and Reform Commission delivered a speech on “Improving the Policies for National Leisure Development for People to Have a Higher Quality Life ”. Shan Jixiang, Director of the Palace Museum, delivered a speech on "The Great Axis of Beijing". Li Baochun, Executive Deputy Secretary General of the World Federation of Tourism Cities, delivered a speech on "Keeping up With the New Tourism Trend and Promoting Further  Development of the Leisure Industry". Sara Dolnicar, Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Tourism Research and Professor of the University of Queensland, delivered a speech on "Make Tourism More Environmentally Sustainable in the Most Efficient Way". Zhang Shumin, General Manager if OCT Tourism Investment Group, delivered a speech on "In a Sunny Spring Day, Amid a Green Mountain and By a Clear Stream". Liu Zhenfei, Alibaba Partner and President of AutoNavi, delivered a speech on "Digital Technology Promotes the High-quality Development of the Leisure Industry". Wang Tayi, General Manger of Beijing Universal Studios, delivered a speech on "Freewheeling With the Movies—Beijing Universal Studio Resort Is About to Start a  New Fashion for the Leisure Industry ".

Zou Tongqian, Assistant to the President of BISU and Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of the World Leisure Congress, presided over the main forum

Zhu Shanzhong, Executive Director of the United Nations World Tourism Organization(UNWTO) made congratulatory remarks

Eight Representatives of the Academia and the Industry From Home and Abroad Delivered Speeches Respectively

The speeches were followed by the “Launching Ceremony of the World Leisure Forum·Jinhaihu Think Tank”. The Think Tank is based in Pinggu and has its secretariat in Beijing International Studies University. Wu Xiaojie, Chief Executive of Pinggu District of Beijing, and Professor Ji Jinbiao, President of Beijing International Studies University, jointly unveiled the plaque of the Think Tank and the Secretariat. Professor Ji Jinbiao, President of BISU, delivered a speech on behalf of the Think Tank Secretariat. Chen Dong, Director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and Wang Chengguo, Secretary of the Party Committee of Pinggu District, issued letters of appointment to the experts of the think tank.

Wu Xiaojie, Chief Executive of Pinggu District of Beijing, and Professor Ji Jinbiao, President of Beijing International Studies University, jointly unveiled the plaque of the Think Tank and the Secretariat

President Ji Jinbiao noted that Beijing International Studies University will give full support to the construction of the Jinhaihu Think Tank which will provide a full range of intellectual support for the development of the leisure industry. The Leisure industry needs such a platform with brand influence and power to bring all stakeholders together in order to promote exchanges and cooperation among local governments, the industry and the academia so that they can have in-depth discussions about their trail-blazing ideas and practices, explore potential paths of high-quality development of the industry, and contribute their brainpower and expertise for the development of leisure of China and the world. 

Chen Dong, Director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and Wang Chengguo, Secretary of the Party Committee of Pinggu District, issued letters of appointment to the experts of the Think Tank

The establishment of the World Leisure Forum·Jinhaihu Think Tank and the future establishment of the Beijing Observatory of World Leisure Organization will greatly enhance China’s influence in the leisure field and and allow China to share its experience of this field with other countries. The establishment of the Secretariat in Beijing International Studies University will help our university to build itself into a world research highland of leisure theory, an international leisure academic dissemination base of, and a platform for China’s leisure theory to serve the leisure industry.

The congress held a presentation conference on the academic achievements of leisure research. At the request of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, Professor Zou Tongqian from our university led a group and finished the "Green Book on The Report of the Development of Beijing’s Leisure Industry". During the congress, Wu Liyun, Associate Professor of China Academy of Culture and Tourism, released the report. Professor Han Yuling, Executive Director of China Academy of Tourism Talent Development made comments  comment. Professor Lv Ning, Deputy Dean of the School of Tourism Sciences, released the “Report on the Development of China's Leisure Cities”, with comments from Liu Feng, President of Davos Summit Group. Both reports received recognition from the participants.

Presentation Conference on the Academic Achievements of Leisure Research

As the world’s most influential academic event in the field of leisure, the congress included the opening and closing ceremonies, the awarding ceremony, one leisure academic main forum, fourteen parallel sub-forums and a series of activities to show the diversity of leisure and spread the concept of leisure-for-all. The fourteen parallel forums (online and offline) with focus on the interplay between leisure and innovation, and between leisure and agriculture attracted academic and industry experts from Renmin University of China, Peking University, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing Sport University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Capital University of Economics and Business, Nankai University, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Gongsang University, Beijing Normal University, Qingdao University, Shanghai University of Sport, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing International Studies University, Huangshan Tourism Group, CTS Group, the Academic Committee of the World Leisure Organization, Russia National Research University Higher School of Economics, University of Kansas, Seoul National University, Arizona State University, Hong Kong Baptist University, University of Victoria, Brock University, Erasmus University, University of California, Salem State University, University of Liverpool, University of Queensland, São Paulo State University, University of the Philippines. A total of 87 authors presented their papers, including 51 foreign scholars and 36 domestic scholars.

Fourteen Parallel Forums

On April 17^th, Professor Zou Tongqian, Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of the World Leisure Congress, led the experts of the World Leisure Congress to have a designated tour in Taohuawu, the Gold Award winner of the International Leisure Lifestyle Case. They conducted an detailed discussion on the leisure development of Taohuawu. Shen Jie, Director of the Standing committee of People’s Congress of Pinggu District, Professor Wang Qiyan from Renmin University of China, Associate Professors Han Yuling and Wu Liyun from Beijing International Studies University, and other 15 experts participated in the discussion, and made their own suggestions on how to build a world-class leisure lifestyle in Taohuawu.

On April 18^th, Wang Chengguo, Secretary of the Party Committee of Pinggu District of Beijing, presided over the closing ceremony. Chen Dong, Director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, delivered the closing speech. Zhou Lijun, Executive Committee Member of the World Leisure Organization, made a summary of the Congress. Zou Tongqian, Assistant to the President of BISU and Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of the World Leisure made the academic summary. At last, the flag handover ceremony was held, and Dunedin, New Zealand, would be the host city of the 17th World Leisure Congress. The World Leisure Congress came to a successful close.

Professor Zou Tongqian, Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of the World Leisure Congress and Assistant to the President of BISU, made the academic summary at the closing ceremony

The World Leisure Congress was usually a world academic congress. But with the excellent organization, this time, the congress also functioned as a leisure industry exposition and greatly promoted the leisure development of Pinggu District of Beijing, stimulated investment worth of nearly a hundred million. The Jinhaihu Leisure Town was built,  Taohuawu won the Gold Award of International Leisure Lifestyle Case Competition, a  International Conference and Exhibition Center and a five-star hotel were built, and infrastructure around Jinhaihu area has been greatly improved. Local people say that the road is better, the landscape is greener, the sky is bluer and the scenery is more beautiful.

Our University is oriented to serve the strategic needs of the country and the capital. Gu Xiaoyuan, Secretary of the Party Committee of BISU, and Ji Jinbiao, President of BISU, attached great importance to this Congress and set up a team with China Academy of Culture and Tourism at its core. The team coordinated efforts from China Academy of Culture and Tourism, School of Tourism Science, School of Interpreting and Translation, China Research Institute of Tourism Talent Development, Youth League Committee of BISU, Tourism Education Press, MTA Center, Foreign Language Translation Center of BISU and other departments. After winning the bid to hold the congress, the Expert Committee of the World Leisure Congress was set up. The secretariat is based in the Chinese Academy of Culture and Tourism of our university to coordinate the academic work of the congress. The secretariat organized experts to Pinggu for discussions and reviews for more than 50 times. It undertook the organization and implementation of the main forum and 14 sub-forums of the congress, collecting a total of 374 papers and abstracts including 237 domestic ones and 137 foreign ones. Foreign papers and abstracts mainly come from 23 countries and regions including U.S., Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, and Brazil ,etc. More than 100 papers have been submitted in full texts by a total of 822 authors or co-authors. At the same time, the secretariat helped the executive committee of the congress to review a lot of documents including "Congress Proposal", "Exposition Proposal" , and "Organizing Committee Proposal", and also offer some professional insights. Moreover, the secretariat helped to reach out and invite potential guests, prepare to launch the World Leisure Congress·Jinhaihu Think Tank. It also participated in building the Beijing Observatory of the World Leisure Organization, and the organization of the 2019 World Leisure Congress in Beijing, China.

Meanwhile, nearly 200 teachers and students from Beijing International Studies University undertook the work in the congress hall or backstage. Foreign Language Translation Center Co., Ltd of BISU took on all the translation work during the preparation and holding of the congress, and organized more than 20 translators from the Translation Center and related partners who translated over 170,000 words, and more than 1,000 minutes of video, and interpreted 20 events including the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony, the main sub-forum, and the theme events. Through their efforts, the "online + offline" interactive mode of the conference secured a complete success.