39th Academic Salon for PhD Students in Theoretical Economics: Making Time More Meaningful

      On May 28th, the 3rd Academic Salon for PhD Students in Theoretical Economics in 2018 (the 39th in history) was staged by the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University (SZU) at the south lecture hall of SZU library. The guest speaker of this lecture is Prof. Zhou Wenzhang, former vice-president and PhD supervisor of the Chinese Academy of Governance, concurrently professor of Renmin University of China (RUC) and China University of Geosciences, and former member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee and Minister of the Publicity Ministry Department of Hainan. Prof. Zhou also enjoys special government allowances of the State Council. Prof. Zhou invented a self-contained theory of “Illustration of Subject Recognition” and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) theory. In 1992, he was awarded the title of “Excellent Expert with Outstanding Contributions in Hainan Province”. Prof. Li Yonghua, vice-principal of SZU, attended the lecture and delivered a welcome speech. The lecture was presided over by Prof. Yuan Yiming, deputy director of the CCSEZR and attracted graduate and doctoral students from the CCSEZR and teachers and students from other majors.
 

Welcome speech by Li Yonghua, vice-principal of SZU

Prof. Yuan Yiming, deputy director of the CCSEZR, presides over the salon

Prof. Zhou Wenzhang delivers a wonderful presentation
 

      Prof. Zhou Wenzhang expounded on the theme of "Making Time More Meaningful" from four dimensions: cognitive level, living examples, personal experience, and suggestions. Prof. Zhou pointed out that at the cognitive level, time is life, and by making life more meaningful we make time more meaningful. But this must be based on the precondition that we have to be ambitious; we each one must have a dream and it takes knowledge, ability, and attitude to achieve the dream. To transform from quantitative to qualitative changes, it needs a gradual accumulation of small changes. Prof. Zhou then went on by giving vivid living examples of people around him who have invested time into keeping their dreams alive. He then shared with us his story in detail about how he developed a liking for calligraphy at his age of fifty, wrote calligraphy while travelling, insisted on writing on the New Year's Eve ever since 2004 and published a collection of calligraphy written on the New Year's Eve. Moreover, Prof. Zhou also loved to write poetry. Writing poetry to him is to remember things, express emotions and convey ambitions. During his lecture, Prof. Zhou also recited short English articles he had memorized decades ago to tell everyone how to cherish and make full use of time. From time to time, the audience burst into wild applause. Finally, Prof. Zhou summed up his lecture with four sentences as below: "Cherish time - be a miser of time; read books thoroughly - be a book addict; think diligently - be a perpetual motion machine of mind, and stay in reality - be a person with a realistic heart."
 

A scene of the salon 
 

Prof. Zhou communicates with students
 

      Prof. Zhou left a strong impression on the students’ mind with his sagacity, the way he cherishes time and perseverance. Prof. Yuan Yiming also encouraged the students to draw experience from Prof. Zhou on time management and to reflect on how to make use of time. In the end, this lecture ended successfully with enthusiastic applause from students. (Reported by Xiang Wei)