China has developed a series of major innovations in the process of modernizing its governance system and governance capacity, accumulating considerable practical experience in public administration. Based on China’s practice, future studies should focus on the modernization of China’s governance system and governance capacity, continue to expand its global vision, learn from international theoretical resources with a critical perspective and construct a Chinese theoretical system of public administration.

Sun Baiying, a professor from the School of Public Administration and Policy at Renmin University of China, said the public administration discipline in China has now formulated a complete basic theoretical system. However, the construction of its disciplinary system, academic system and discourse system need to be improved on the whole.

Constructing a Chinese system of public administration theory that is based in China’s reality is vital to the discipline, said Yi Chengzhi, a professor from the School of Politics and Public Management at East China University of Political Science and Law.

Sun said our research on public administration theory has for a long time provided good guidance for its implementation, but the lack of a collection of academic concepts supported by meso-level theories requires us to further consider how to show the advantages of meso-level management mechanisms. The development of public administration should focus on national governance capacity and state-society relations.

Wang Zhiqiang, dean of the School of Public Administration at South China University of Technology, said that China’s public administration discipline should research specific theoretical and practical issues that account for the current situation and current practices. As such, China’s public administration discipline can better respond to the requirements of rapidly changing practice. The discipline needs to be based on social needs and respond to people’s ever-growing desire for a better life.

Strengthening comprehensive cross-disciplinary study and promoting the integrated development of multiple disciplines are important motivating aims for the innovative development of philosophy and the social sciences. In Sun’s view, research on the discipline of public administration should understand the way society operates more from the perspective of politics and sociology.

The development of globalization and internet technology has provided conditions for the knowledge system of this discipline to become more international, Wang said. Therefore, scholars in this field should closely keep pace with the times, study the new theories and thought of all disciplines at home and abroad, strive to work at the leading edge of academic research, follow and explain new practices and questions concerning global public governance, and expand the knowledge system and global vision of this discipline.

“The rapid growth of big data and other emerging technologies has significantly influenced public administration research,” Yi said. As an inclusive and open discipline, public administration needs to learn from the new knowledge, technologies and approaches of other disciplines and fields.