Prof. Yao Yang’s Book Presented with China New Development Awards 2023

Nov 23-2023   

On November 21, 2023, Springer Nature announced the winners of China New Development Awards 2023. Thanks to his book China and the West: A Pragmatic Confucian’s View , Prof. Yao Yang was presented with the award by Dr. Stefan Von Holtzbrinck, Chairman of Springer Nature Supervisory Board, and Dr. Niels Peter Thomas, Springer Nature Greater China President and Global Publishing President.

Prof. Yao is NSD Dean and PKU Bo Ya Distinguished Professor. Spring Nature commended his book for thoughts on China’s modernization paths, endeavors to re-construct a political philosophy based on Confucianism, and interpretations of China’s political system and advice for its improvement.

In his acceptance speech, Prof. Yao appreciated the recognition by Spring Nature and the efforts of the book’s editors. He expressed gratitude to the translator of the book, Prof. David Ownby of the University of Montreal, for his profound understanding of the book and accurate and authentic translation. With the book, Prof. Yao hoped to inject fresh thoughts into the important topic of ‘China and the West’. He said China’s current political system calls for a political philosophy; therefore, he attempts to apply Confucian political thoughts to interpreting today’s China and achieving their organic integration with modern mainstream political theories. He believed that China’s traditional Confucian political thoughts should be brought up to date and combine with modern value systems. He hoped his book would contribute to this cause.

Spring Nature launched China New Development Awards in 2019, with the aim of pushing for the realization of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by facilitating the sharing of research results.