From September 26th to 28th, the 2025 Academic Annual Conference of the Geographical Society of China (North China Region) was successfully held at our university. The conference was sponsored by the Geographical Society of China, undertaken by the North China Regional Office of the Geographical Society of China, the School of Geographical Sciences and Environment of our university, the Institute of Geographical Sciences of Hebei Academy of Sciences, and the School of Geographical Sciences of Hebei Normal University, and co-organized by the Beijing Geographical Society, Tianjin Geographical Society, Shandong Geographical Society, Hebei Geographical Society, Hebei Regional Development Research Association, Shanxi Normal University, and Inner Mongolia Normal University.

He Canfei, Vice President of the Geographical Society of China, Director of its North China Regional Office, and Dean of the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University, and Wang Yongqin, President of our university, attended the event and delivered speeches. The opening ceremony was presided over by Feng Baoqiang, Vice President of our university. More than 900 participants attended the conference, including experts and scholars from over 80 universities, research institutes and middle schools，as well as teachers and students from our university.

On behalf of the Geographical Society of China and its North China Regional Office, He Canfei extended warm congratulations on the opening of the annual conference and introduced the development history and main work of the Geographical Society of China. He pointed out that as a bridge linking the Geographical Society of China and the geographical societies of all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in North China, the North China Regional Academic Annual Conference has built an excellent platform for closer cooperation among regional scientific research, education and management institutions. At the same time, it has expanded the inter-provincial exchanges of local geographical societies and strengthened the connections and cooperation between the societies. The Geographical Society of China will, as always, unite and lead a large number of geographers across the country, share the destiny with the nation and keep pace with the times, so as to create new advantages and make new achievements.

On behalf of the conference undertakers, Wang Yongqin extended a warm welcome to the experts and scholars present, and briefly introduced our university’s history, development achievements, as well as its School of Geographical Sciences and Environment. She pointed out that the holding of this annual conference is a concrete action to thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, a scientific exploration of studying the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature from a spatial scale, a beneficial practice of integrating research to support regional governance, and a powerful measure to promote the long-term development of geography in North China. She hoped that the participating experts and scholars would stimulate ideas, share insights, build consensus, work together to draw a new blueprint for the development of geography in North China, and jointly write a new chapter in the high-quality development of geography in the new era.

After the opening ceremony, the plenary report session was chaired by Meng Guangwen, President of the Tianjin Geographical Society, and Wang Zhongliang, President of Tianjin Chengjian University. Gong Huili, Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences and former President of Capital Normal University, and four other experts delivered plenary reports in sequence.

During the parallel sessions, 94 experts, scholars and postgraduates gave academic reports at 8 venues, covering themes including “Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and Xiongan New Area Construction”, “Ecological Protection and High-Quality Development of the Yellow River Basin”, “Water Security and Sustainable Utilization in North China”, “Surface Processes and Ecological Response in North China”, “Regional High-Quality Development Driven by New-Quality Productive Forces”, “Rural Development and Culture-Tourism Integration in North China”, “Territorial Spatial Planning and Spatiotemporal Big Data Computing”, and “Secondary School Geography Education and Education Power Construction”.

This annual conference has successfully established an academic exchange platform for the geographical community in North China. Centering on the theme of “Innovation-Driven·Regional Synergy·Green Transition: High-Quality Development and Ecological Civilization Construction in North China”, in-depth discussions were conducted, contributing professional geographical wisdom and solutions to the high-quality development of the region. This event has not only further deepened the exchange and cooperation between our university and all participating institutions and representatives, but also significantly enhanced the university’s reputation and influence.