On December 14, 2025, the 9th High-Level Forum on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was held in Nanjing. The forum focused on studying and implementing the guiding principles of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. More than 100 experts and scholars from universities, research institutions, and media organizations across China attended the event. The forum was hosted by the Southeast University Base of the Jiangsu Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and organized by the Institute for the Development of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and the School of Marxism of Southeast University. Zhao Jinsong, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, and Wu Xiaocheng, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Southeast University, attended the forum and delivered speeches.

The forum included one keynote speech, four thematic sessions, and three parallel sub-forums. Distinguished scholars such as Gu Hailiang, Yan Xiaofeng, and Ren Ping were invited to engage in in-depth discussions on the new goals, new concepts, and new strategic arrangements set forth in the Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. Participating experts and scholars stated that they would take the forum as an opportunity to deepen theoretical research on the underlying principlesof Chinese modernization and contribute their intellectual support to its advancement.