On July 15 and 16, 2019, the 11th Asia Pacific Conference of ISTR was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Dean of ZJU School of Public Affairs Professor Yu Jianxing, researcher of Hundred Talent Program Shen Yongdong, PhD candidates Shi Hao, Yu Zhihong and Zhang Taiyu attended. The theme of the annual meeting was “Shifting Sands? The Challenges of Regulatory Change and its Impact on the Third Sector Environment in the Asia Pacific Region”, aimed at exploring the latest practice and theoretical progress in the regulation of the third sector in Asia Pacific Region with the expectation of promoting the sustainable development of the third sector. Hundreds of researchers and practitioners in the field attended.
At the conference, Yu Jianxing and Shen Yongdong made a report entitled “The Interaction of the Party, the Government and Associations in China”, which held that the study of the relationship between the state and society of present China needs to expand from the dual analytical framework of “state and society” to ternary analytical framework of “political party – government – society”, emphasized the positive significance of Party building in realizing separation of government and society and fostering and developing social organizations and provided a new theoretical perspective for understanding the development of China’s state and society since the 18th CPC National Congress. Shi Hao made a report entitled “Social Innovations: The New Promoter in Social Governance”, which explored the features, importance of social innovators and the logical mechanisms in solving social problems. In the PhD forum, Yu Zhihong shared her study on “Government Funding and Resource Mobilization of Nonprofits in China and explored the impact of government funding on resource mobilization of social organizations of China and its generating mechanism.
During the conference, Professor Yu Jianxing also carried out in-depth exchanges on behalf of SPA with ISTR Chairman Ruth Phillips, Vice Director of Contemporary Chinese Study Center of Melbourne University and ISTR Chairman on Duty Oonagh Breen.
(From right to left are: Yu Jianxing, Oonagh Breen, Anthony Spires, Ruth Phillips, Shen Yongdong)
ISTR was founded in 1992. It is a global research team composed of scholars, policy makers and leaders of the third sector (public/charity sectors). It is engaged in the creation, discussion and development of knowledge of the third sector and its influence on a good society, welfare system and public policy. It holds a conference every two years and will be held in Montreal, Canada in 2020. The Asia Pacific division of ISTR holds a regional conference every two years, which is aimed at probing into the development of the third sector in Asian region and its role in economy and society.
