The 3rd Türkiye-China Academic Cooperation Forum opened in Istanbul on Thursday under the theme "Decision-Making in Times of Crises: Toward Shared Pathways for Cooperation," bringing together scholars and policymakers to strengthen academic ties and develop recommendations on higher education through a partnership involving the Enstitü Sosyal, or Institute Social, Shanghai University, and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
The program, which includes leading academics and experts from both countries, will address 11 thematic areas ranging from global governance to artificial intelligence and trade to public diplomacy.
In opening remarks, Ipek Coşkun Armağan, general coordinator of the Institute Social, said there is a need for greater representation of non-Western intellectual traditions in global academic discourse.
“The contemporary production of global knowledge continues to be concentrated in certain regions, excluding the intellectual traditions of the East and the Global South,” Armağan said.
“Today’s world expects more from universities and think tanks than just the production of knowledge,” she added.
Armağan noted that collaboration between Turkish and Chinese educational institutions should be expanded through joint publications, collaborative research projects, shared databases, faculty exchanges, and, in particular, opportunities for young scholars.
Professor Guo Changgang of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of History said Türkiye and China, as major actors in the Global South, should deepen cooperation not only in economic and political fields but also in technical and intellectual areas.
Speakers noted that intellectual exchange between the two countries has remained limited despite shared experiences of modernization. They said universities and think tanks have a key role in building a sustainable, long-term partnership.
Participants also discussed challenges in bilateral relations, including differing geopolitical priorities and a persistent trade imbalance.
The forum builds on two previous editions. The inaugural forum was held in Ankara in 2023 under the theme "Coexistence of Civilizations in the Age of Great Transformation," while the second took place in Shanghai in 2025 under the theme "Seeking Direction in an Age of Uncertainty: Perspectives from Türkiye and China."
