On 28 December, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the School of Economics and Management of Tongji University, the “Excellence 9+ League for Innovative Development of Management” was formally established at the General Assembly, and a seminar on the innovative development of academic disciplines was held under the theme of “Cross-disciplinary Fusion and Innovative Development Path”. The seminar brought together experts from the School of Management of Beijing Institute of Technology, the Department of Management and Economics of Tianjin University, the School of Economics and Management of Dalian University of Technology, the School of Economics and Management of Harbin Institute of Technology, the School of Economics and Management of Tongji University, the School of Economics and Management of Southeast University, the School of Management of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the School of Business Administration of South China University of Technology, the School of Economics and Business Administration of Chongqing University, the School of Management of Northwestern Polytechnical University, etc., focused on the new era under the background of disciplinary innovation and development to hold in-depth discussions. The Business School of East China University of Science and Technology attended the seminar as an invited representative of the sister institutions in Shanghai. The directors of various disciplines and department heads of Tongji SEM also actively participated in the event.

LYU Peiming, Executive Vice President of Tongji University, congratulated the 40th anniversary of Tongji SEM and welcomed the guests. He said that the school is facing new opportunities and challenges in the new era, and the discipline of economics and management must continue to develop the traditional advantageous disciplines while exploring interdisciplinary development.

YANG Shanlin, Academician of Hefei University of Technology, said before the meeting that engineering-oriented universities need to think about the role and status of management discipline among all disciplines in the university and the level of the discipline in the international arena.

ZHU Hehua, Academician of Tongji University, emphasized the importance of the management discipline and proposed that the management discipline should be divided into general management and management related to specific industries. The development of economic and management disciplines should not blindly follow hotspots, but should choose appropriate development directions according to their own characteristics and advantages, and also proposed that technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data should be integrated into management disciplines.

SHI Qian, Chairman of the School Council of Tongji SEM, introduced the current challenges and future development ideas of Tongji School of Economics and Management, including enrolment pressure, synergetic development of disciplines and the way of cross-integration of disciplines. The school will actively explore the development direction of economics and management disciplines in the era of artificial intelligence, strengthen the cross-integration of disciplines and optimize the talent cultivation mode.

XIE En, Dean of Tongji SEM, emphasized that the seminar aims to promote the innovation and development of economic and management disciplines in comprehensive universities with a strong scientific and technological background through exchanges and cooperation, so as to contribute wisdom and strength to the economic and social development of China.

Participating leaders and expert representatives shared their experience and positive exploration in discipline construction, talent cultivation, scientific research and other aspects.