Visitors from seven different countries attended including from the United Kingdom, France and Germany.The event was co-sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Studies of Social Sciences of SUSTech and the Asia Pacific Leisure and Education Research Center of Zhejiang University.

SUSTech University Council Vice-chairperson Li Fengliang attended the meeting and delivered a speech to the visitors.

In his speech, Li Fengliang briefed participants on the history of SUSTech as well as the recent development of the liberal arts at the university. He went on to say that SUSTech is modeled on the city of Shenzhen and that is why it has developed so quickly, and has continuously promoted innovation and reform. He said first-class science and engineering go hand in hand with humanities, social sciences and art in most other top institutes and that SUSTech is focusing strongly on these fields.

The conference had multiple talks on topics such as creative activities, environments and industries, and how to stimulate the students’ imagination through creative thinking, creative environments, creative designs, creative landscapes, cultural products and various other fields which have a potential for opening up new economic prospects.

The conference echoed the high-level academic forum “Aesthetic and Cultural Creativity” which took place at SUSTech in April this year. The connection between leisure and aesthetic is that both advocate a free and relaxed atmosphere of creativity.

As Pan Liyong, a professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Leisure Education and Research at Zhejiang University, puts it: human ability can only achieve its optimum level under the condition of being physically and psychologically comfortable, breaking new ground to create new works, and further promoting the dynamism of the entire social and cultural industries.