Let Confucianism nourish entrepreneurship and initiate a common dialogue on business civilization in the new era. The first Nishan World Forum on Culture of Confucian Entrepreneurs was opened in Nishan, Qufu on the afternoon of September 26. Chinese and foreign representative entrepreneurs, experts, scholars, and representative descendants of Confucius assembled at the event online and offline. They had discussions on the culture and values of Confucian entrepreneurs in the new era and the construction of modern business civilization, allowing the world to hear their voices from Nishan: promoting economic development through excellent traditional Chinese culture.

As one of the sub-forums of The Eighth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, the Nishan World Forum on Culture of Confucian Entrepreneurs was jointly organized by the Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies, the China Confucius Foundation, the Shandong Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Department of Education of Shandong Province, the Shandong Academy of Chinese Culture, and the Jining Municipal People’s Government. More than 100 scholars, experts, and entrepreneurs from the United States, Germany, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Belarus, and other countries participated in the event online and offline. The forum was also held in four branch venues: the Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies, the Chinese Confucius Research Institute, the Mencius Research Institute, and the Confucius Museum. Together, all the venues facilitated dialogues between the world’s Confucian entrepreneurs from diverse sectors.

For the first time, the forum focused on the integration and connection between excellent traditional Chinese culture and business civilization in the new era. The participants had dialogues on the civilization of Confucian entrepreneurs that integrates Confucian wisdom and the practice of enterprise. Upon the opening of the event, a suite of sessions were held synchronously, including keynote speeches that targeted the world and concerned different fields, academic discussions, interviews, and focus groups. Centered around a number of topics, including “the values of Confucian entrepreneurs in the era and the construction of contemporary business civilization,”“the exchange and mutual learning between civilizations and the development of a unified market,”“the formation and development of Qilu culture and Confucian entrepreneurs,”, and “the implications of Confucian entrepreneurs’traditional culture for modern business management,”the participants expounded on the value of Confucian entrepreneurship in the development of modern world civilizations, contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to addressing changes unprecedented in the past 100 years and promoting economic globalization.