The Institute for Population and Development Studies (IPDS) of Xi’an Jiaotong University, as one of the earliest population research institutes in China, was derived from Association of Population Studies founded in 1979 and Population Research Center reestablished in 1981. In March 1984, the Institute was officially established as Institute of Population and Economy Studies. In 2004, the Institute, together with Department of Public Administration, Department of Social Security and other institutes, set up the School of Public Policy and Administration. Renamed as Institute for Population and Development Studies (IPDS), the Institute is consisted of Center for Population and Social Policy Studies, Center for Gender and Development Studies, Women and Gender Research & Training Base of Shaanxi Women’s Federation, Center for Ageing and Health Research, and Institute for Real Estate Research. In December 2015, as one of the main member units, Collaborative Innovative Center of Social Governance and Social Policy Studies was formally approved as Shaanxi Philosophy & Social Science Research Base.
In the past thirty years, IPDS has been constantly growing and expanding, with a collection of advanced talents at national and ministerial level. It has built a multi-dimensional team development model with a platform of talent training, team building, construction of research platform and social experimental zone, large-scale social survey and database construction, governmental collaboration network building, and international collaboration and communication. Besides, the Institute has already achieved considerable national and international influences in the field of population and social development studies and made significant contributions to the rise and development of Demography and Population Studies in China.
As two founders and honorary directors of IPDS, Professor JIANG Zhenghua is the distinguished population economist and former Vice Chairman of Standing Committee of National People's Congress of China, while Professor ZHU Chuzhu is the founder of China’s Female Demography and winner of China Population Award. They have made substantial achievements in the academic fields of technical demography, population system simulation, regional population and economic development, female demography and so on, which play a decisive role in pushing demographic and population studies in China and determine our direction and characteristics of demographic and population studies. Professor LI Shuzhuo, the present director and Changjiang Distinguished Professor of Ministry of Education of China (2007-2010), won Fudan Premium Management Award, which is the top management award in China, and received honor of Leading Talent of Philosophy and Social Science in the National High-level Talents Special Support Program (“Ten-thousand Talents Program”). The research teams in IPDS were one of the earliest teams in management science that obtained continuous support by Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of Ministry of Education of China. Many team members have been accepted in ministerial and provincial talent projects, including four in Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of Ministry of Education of China, 4 in Program of Young Talents of Humanities and Social Sciences in Universities of Shaanxi province, and 3 in Top Young Talents Program of Xi’an Jiaotong University. Currently, IPDS has abundant qualified researchers and teachers. There are 14 full-time teachers, including 9 professors, 4 associate professors and 1 lecturer, in which 7 are Ph.D. supervisors. Based on Ph.D. programs of first-class disciplines in Management Science and Engineering, and Ph.D. and master programs of first-class disciplines in Public Administration, IPDS cultivates excellent graduate students in the field of population and sustainable social development. Over hundreds of Ph.D. and master students have been graduated so far, and there are currently more than 80 Ph.D. and master candidates at the IPDS. Simultaneously, the Institute also participates in the professional MPA education of the school and post-doctoral training in Public Administration.
Focused on current major issues of China’s population and social development and based on international collaboration platforms, IPDS has not only achieved plentiful high-level academic findings with great social influence, but also devoted itself to transferring research achievements into policy practices with omni-directional and three-dimensional capacity of policy research, consulting and implementation. The Institute has built cooperated research network with national and local governments at all levels, including National Health and Family Planning Commission of China and relative governmental departments in Shaanxi, Henan, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces, and social experimental zones including one in Chaohu City of Anhui Province and one in Ankang City of Shaanxi Province. The institute also participated in the strategic study of national and provincial population and development planning many times, and advertised and promoted related research achievements nationally or in some provinces.
The institute has so far accomplished more than 100 key national-, provincial- and ministerial-level projects and international cooperation projects, been responsible for many national key and major projects, and accomplished a leading level nationally and an advanced level internationally in the field of population and social development. Related researches have received support from international foundations, international organizations, UN system, national foundations and related ministries, provincial and city governments.