The 2026 Annual Editorial Board Meeting of Journal of Public Management and the Academic Symposium on Research Methods for Public Administration in an Intelligent Society were held in Harbin recently.
Experts and scholars in public administration from more than 20 universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Renmin University of China and Zhejiang University, gathered for in-depth discussions on methodological innovation, knowledge production and the construction of an independent knowledge system for public administration in the context of an intelligent society. The meeting comprised four sessions: an opening ceremony, an academic report session, a roundtable forum and an editorial board working meeting.
A group photo of participating experts. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
At the opening ceremony, Tan Yiqiu, assistant president of Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), delivered a speech. She pointed out that the rapid development of artificial intelligence is reshaping economic and social operations and bringing important new opportunities and challenges for the development of public administration. As key drivers of knowledge innovation, universities should promote interdisciplinary integration and methodological innovation, deepen the integration of intelligent technologies with public governance research, and provide stronger academic support for the modernization of China's governance system and governance capacity.
Tan Yiqiu delivers a speech. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
Ding Huang, co-convener of the Public Administration Discipline Appraisal Group under the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, distinguished dean of the School of Public Administration at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and a "Luojia Scholar" distinguished professor at Wuhan University, addressed the meeting. He noted that the new round of technological revolution represented by artificial intelligence is having a profound impact on social operations and governance models, and accelerating the evolution of public governance from digitalization to intelligentization. Against this background, the public administration discipline must urgently respond to the practical needs of an intelligent society, promote coordinated innovation in governance concepts, institutional systems and research methods, and gradually build an independent knowledge system of public administration with Chinese characteristics, to provide theoretical and methodological support for advancing Chinese modernization.
Ding Huang delivers a speech. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
Sun Tao, deputy director of the Editorial Board of Journal of Public Management and Professor at Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen campus), delivered a speech on behalf of the editorial board. He stated that since its founding, Journal of Public Management has been committed to serving national strategic needs and the frontiers of disciplinary development, and has remained focused on key theoretical topics and methodological innovation in public administration research. Facing the development of an intelligent society, the journal will further strengthen its academic leadership, support the integrated development of theoretical and methodological innovation, and promote the formation of a more open, standardized and sustainable academic ecosystem.
Sun Tao delivers a speech. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
Wang Jian, editor-in-chief of Journal of Public Management and dean of HIT's School of Management, presides over the opening ceremony. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
The academic report session was chaired by Liu Luning, executive deputy editor-in-chief of the journal and vice-dean of HIT's School of Management.
Professors Ding Huang from Wuhan University, Zhu Zhengwei from Xi'an Jiaotong University, Zhu Xufeng and Meng Tianguang from Tsinghua University, Yu Wenxuan from Xiamen University, Liu Peng from Renmin University of China, Zhang Nan from Tsinghua University, and Sun Tao from Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen campus) delivered academic reports on the innovation and transformation of public administration research methods in the context of an intelligent society. These reports highlighted a clear academic trend – public administration research is forming an intelligent governance research methodology system with Chinese characteristics and disciplinary frontiers through scenario-based approaches, technology empowerment and paradigm reconstruction, providing practical methodological tools for public administration research in the intelligent era.
The roundtable forum was chaired by Yan Jinming, secretary-general of the National MPA Education Steering Committee and dean of the School of Public Administration at Renmin University of China, and Yu Jianxing, secretary-general of the Steering Committee for Higher Education in Public Administration (Ministry of Education) and a professor at Zhejiang University.
Experts attending the forum held in-depth discussions on core topics including the epistemological foundations, methodological innovation paths and the construction of an independent knowledge system for public administration research in the artificial intelligence era. Drawing on their research fields and experience in disciplinary development, the experts discussed issues such as the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the paradigm of public administration research, the application boundaries of data-driven research methods, and the paths to building an independent disciplinary knowledge system. They agreed that the development of intelligent technologies is driving profound changes in the research objects, research methods and knowledge production mechanisms of public administration research, and it is necessary to promote the coordinated development of methodological and theoretical innovation under the premise of adhering to the public value orientation. Through in-depth exchanges and diverse viewpoints, the forum further built academic consensus on promoting the high-quality development of public administration, and offered useful ideas for deepening theoretical exploration and methodological innovation in the context of an intelligent society.
The editorial board working meeting was chaired by Professor Sun Tao. Huang Xinzhuo, deputy editor-in-chief and director of the Editorial Office of Journal of Public Management, delivered a comprehensive report on the journal's work in 2025. The meeting reviewed the report and discussed issues concerning the development of the journal and the selection of the journal's outstanding papers for 2025. The meeting offered suggestions on how the journal can improve its academic quality and influence.
The on-site scene of the annual meeting and the academic symposium. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
The meeting upheld the journal's long-standing tradition of promoting high-level academic dialogue and supporting disciplinary development, and also reflected HIT's broader efforts in recent years to strengthen interdisciplinary integration across economics, management and the humanities and build a high-quality platform for academic exchange. It marked another solid step by Journal of Public Management in guiding cutting-edge research in public administration, building academic consensus and advancing the discipline's broader development.