From June 5 to 7, the 5th International Annual Conference on Public Opinion Studies was held in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province. Jointly organized by the Public Opinion Studies Professional Committee of the Chinese Association for History of Journalism and Communication and Hebei Institute of Communications, the conference was themed “Change and Construction: The New Ecology of International Public Opinion in the Intelligent Era.” Over 100 experts and scholars from universities, research institutes, and mainstream media across the country—including Sui Yan, Yu Guoming, Chen Changfeng, Wang Wenbin, and Xie Yungeng—gathered to explore the contemporary positioning of public opinion research, focusing on how generative artificial intelligence is profoundly reshaping the global communication order.

Professor Liao Zhikun of the university was invited to attend the conference and delivered a keynote speech titled Research on the Negative Online Public Opinion-Driven Policy Correction Mechanism at the main forum. Liao pointed out that “everything has two sides, and negative news is no exception.” He emphasized that “negative online public opinion is not merely a ‘trouble’ to be managed; it is also a governance resource that can be leveraged. Essentially, negative online public opinion serves as a non-institutionalized policy correction mechanism.” He further validated the “Value, Capacity, and Support” analytical framework through typical cases in the fields of education, the legal system, and healthcare, exploring how negative online public opinion drives policy correction.

The conference, themed “Change and Construction: The New Ecology of International Public Opinion in the Intelligent Era,” aimed to uphold the Chinese stance, expand the global horizon, and respond to the pressing questions of our times. It brought together domestic and international experts and scholars to jointly assess the cutting-edge dynamics of international public opinion and explore new paradigms, new pathways, and new missions for international public opinion research in the context of intelligent technologies.

(Reported by the CPC HUTB Committee Office and Principal Office)