Agreement Signing Ceremony for Beijing Forum 2009 Held at Peking University

Peking University, Beijing, May 15, 2009: On the Morning of May 15, 2009, the Agreement Signing Ceremony for Beijing Forum 2009 was held at the Tan Siu Lin Center for International Studies, Peking University (PKU). President Qifeng Zhou of Peking University and President Jae-youl Kim of the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies (KFAS) signed the agreement on behalf of each institution. Also present were, from Peking University side: Vice-President Guoyou Zhang, Assistant President Yansong Li, Spokesman Weimin Zhao, Head of the Office of Humanities and Social Sciences of PKU Yuzhui Cheng, and Secretary-General of Beijing Forum Jun Yan; from South Korea side: President Tae Jin KIM of SK Group China, as well as Korean renowned professors including Prof. Jae-yeol YEE, Professor Jae-Ho YEOM, and Professor Jae Wook Ko, etc.

Agreement Signing Ceremony for Beijing Forum 2009

According to the agreement, the sixth annual conference of Beijing Forum --- Beijing Forum 2009 is scheduled to be held from November 6th through 8th, 2009 in Beijing, with the theme of "Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All --- Looking beyond the Crisis for a Harmonious Future."

At the ceremony, President Qifeng Zhou appreciated greatly the generous support from the KFAS and SK Group, he stressed that Beijing Forum had been successfully held consecutively for five years in the past and enjoyed increasing reputation around the world. He firmly believed that, in the current situation of financial crisis, the exploration of the topic "harmony and common prosperity of civilizations" initiated by Beijing Forum would continue attracting the world s attention and there would be an increasing number of noted scholars and experts interested in the participation of the forum.

Prof. Qifeng Zhou, President of Peking University, addressing the ceremony

President Jae-youl Kim highly appraised the achievements of Beijing Forum over the past five years. He said that Beijing Forum, in a spirit of "harmony," had been held annually for five straight years, which had been well received by more and more illustrious scholars in the world. He reiterated that, despite the severe impact of the global economic crisis, the support from the KFAS and SK Group for Beijing Forum would be as strong as ever before.

Jae-youl Kim, President of the KFAS, addressing the ceremony

Prof. Guoyou Zhang, Vice-President of Peking University, pointed out in his address that, Peking University is always proud of its flourish international cooperation and exchange, and each year, it hosts a great number of international symposiums and conferences on humanities and social sciences, among which Beijing Forum is the largest-scaled and most influential one.

Zhang Guoyou, Vice-President of Peking University, addressing the ceremony

Before the ceremony, the two sides had had talks and discussions regarding the organizing work and preparations for Beijing Forum 2009. After rounds of consultation and discussion, the theme of Beijing Forum 2009 entitled "Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All --- Looking beyond the Crisis for a Harmonious Future" have been confirmed. The theme has won high consensus of all present at the ceremony. It was believed that the theme, though, highly relevant to today's international situation, does not restrict itself to the current crisis. Instead, the theme, from a more general perspective, will provoke the scrutiny of the future human development, and encourage academic exploration of the solutions to the problems and challenges facing the whole world.