2012
January：The Institute of Public Policy (IPP) at South China University of Technology (SCUT) was officially established.
2013
August：Hosted the first IPP International Conference with the theme Social Development and Social Policy: International Experience and China’s Reform.
2014
June：Won a major research project from China’s Ministry of Education titled Decision-Making Advisory Systems and the Construction of New Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics.
August：Held the second IPP International Conference in collaboration with UNESCO, themed China’s Reform, Opening-Up, and Public Policy: Retrospect and Prospects.
2015
August：Organized the third IPP International Conference on New Humanism, Governance, and Sustainable Development.
December：Approved as one of China’s first pilot units for high-end think tank construction.
2016
May：Li Mingbo, Director of IPP’s Communication Center, was interviewed by Al Jazeera (Arabic) on China’s perspective on the Middle East.
August：Hosted the fourth IPP International Conference on Order and Governance in the Contemporary World.
2017
February：Held an academic conference on Trump’s New Policies and New Trends in China-U.S. Relations.
March：Professor Zheng Yongnian was interviewed by CCTV’s Xinwen Lianbo (News Broadcast).
April: Organized a seminar on Poverty Governance and Public Policy.
June：IPP researcher Li Haibin’s project Resilience of Vulnerable Children in China from a Socio-Ecological Perspective was approved by the National Social Science Fund (General Project).
June：IPP researcher Tan Rui’s project The Mechanism and Effects of Urban Industrial Upgrading Policies in Resolving Real Estate Bubbles was approved by the National Social Science Fund (Youth Project).
August：Hosted the fifth IPP International Conference on Development and Poverty: Experiences from China and the World.
October：Signed an agreement with Harvard Kennedy School for annual student internships at IPP.
October：Professor Zheng Yongnian was interviewed by CCTV’s special program Remaining True to Our Original Aspiration and Continuing Forward.
October：Co-hosted the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Urban Cluster Development seminar under the 2017 Southern Think Tank Forum.
November：Listed as a China Core Think Tank by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
November：Held a conference on The Rise of the Indo-Pacific Concept and Its Potential Impact on China.
November：Co-hosted an academic symposium with the Consulate General of South Korea in Guangzhou to commemorate the 25th anniversary of China-South Korea diplomatic relations.
November：Organized a seminar on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Urban Cluster Construction.
2018
January：Co-hosted a global think tank symposium and report launch with 170 leading think tanks on Why Think Tanks Matter in the Era of Digital.
January：Lin Huihuang, Assistant Director of IPP, was interviewed by People’s Daily’s Xiake Island.
April：IPP’s WeChat public account IPP Review was ranked among China’s top 20 current affairs self-media platforms.
April：Recognized as an outstanding case in *Guangdong Governance Modernization 2017-2018.*
April：Held a major conference on The Age of Disorder and the Restructuring of the Middle East Order.
April：Organized a seminar on New Era and Trends in China-U.S. Relations.
May：Professor Zheng Yongnian published an op-ed in The Washington Post: The Clash of U.S.-China Techno-Nationalism.June：Hosted a seminar on New Trends in Youth Development in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan in the New Era.
IJune：PP associate researcher Xu Shaomin’s project China’s Public Diplomacy in the ‘Post-Truth’ Era was approved by the National Social Science Fund (Youth Project).
July：Held a workshop on Land in the Pearl River Delta: Politics, Economy, and Society.
August: Organized the sixth IPP International Conference on Metropolitan Development and the Future of Urbanization: The World and China.
October：Held a conference on China-U.S. Strategic Competition and Cooperation and the Prospects of China’s Diplomacy as part of the *40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening-Up* series.
December：Hosted three academic conferences under the *40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening-Up* series.
December：China’s Social Governance Over 40 Years: Lessons and Experiences.
December：Modernization of State Governance: Institutions, Technology, and Development.
2019
March：Conducted an internal seminar on The Latest Situation and Trends in Afghanistan.
August：Hosted the seventh IPP International Conference on Civilization and State Governance: The West and the Non-West.
2020
March：Professor Zheng Yongnian was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency: The International Community Must Cooperate to Defeat the Virus.
June：Professor Zheng Yongnian was interviewed by People’s Daily’s Xiake Island: How Will the U.S. Chaos End?
August：Organized a seminar on National Education and Identity of Hong Kong Youth.
September：IPP researcher Jiang Yuhao’s project State Empowerment Theory and Governance Innovation for Inclusive Growth in the Digital Age was approved by the National Social Science Fund (General Project).
September：IPP researcher Li Haibin’s project Risk Identification and Social Support Systems for Vulnerable Children was approved by the National Social Science Fund (General Project).
October：Held a high-level closed-door seminar on A Review of China-U.S. Relations During the Trump Era and China’s Future Strategic Choices.
2021
April：Conducted a closed-door seminar on Hong Kong’s Basic Law: Retrospect and Prospects.
April：Held a project report meeting on Productivity Development and Macroeconomic Progress.
August: Hosted the 2021 IPP International Conference (online) on Pluralism, Multilateralism, and World Order.
November：Organized a seminar on Platform Economy and Work: Developments and Strategies for Social Progress.
December：Professor Zheng Yongnian was interviewed by CCTV’s New Year’s Dialogue: The U.S. Defines Democracy by Obedience—This Is Not a ‘Summit for Democracy’ but a ‘Performance Art’.
December：Co-hosted the First Greater Bay Area Youth Forum: Talent Mobility and Policies with Sun Yat-sen University’s Institute for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Development Studies.
2022
February：An article by Professor Zheng Yongnian published on IPP’s WeChat account, Ukraine War and the Reconstruction of World Order?, was extensively cited by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
March：Professor Zheng Yongnian was interviewed by Germany’s Die Zeit, explaining China-Russia relations amid the Ukraine war.
June：Co-hosted the Afghanistan in the New 2022 Landscape seminar with Lanzhou University’s Afghanistan Research Center.
July：Co-organized an online dialogue with Tsinghua University’s Belt and Road Strategy Institute on Germany’s Political and Foreign Policy Transformation.
August：Held the 2022 IPP International Conference (online) on China and the World’s Path to Common Prosperity.
August：Conducted a seminar on Digital Technology Innovation and China’s New Development.
September：IPP assistant researcher Dai Mingjie’s project Theoretical Construction and Pathways for Transitioning Housing Security from Productivism to Developmentalism in the New Era was approved by the National Social Science Fund (Youth Project).
2023
January：Guangdong Provincial Party Committee’s Propaganda Department established the SCUT External Communication Research Base at IPP.
April：The first Greater Bay Area Future Forum and the signing ceremony for IPP’s relocation to Nansha were held in Guangzhou.
June：Co-hosted the second Greater Bay Area Future Forum on Global New Development and China’s Digital Economy Strategy in Nansha.
October：Held the 10th IPP International Conference on Multiple Modernities and the New World Order.
December: Organized the third IPP Future Forum on Coordinated Urban-Rural Development and Common Prosperity and launched the Nansha Hundreds, Thousands, Tens of Thousands Project expert think tank.
2024
March：Co-hosted the Cultural Identity: National Identity and Cultural Diversity in the Global Era forum with Exploration and Free Views magazine.
May：Held the fourth IPP Future Forum on Escaping the Middle-Technology Trap: China’s Development of New Quality Productive Forces in Nansha.
June：Organized the Peace and Future of Southeast Asia seminar in Guangzhou.
June：Joined the World Political Parties and Think Tanks Cooperation Network.
August：Professor Jiang Yuhao’s Guangdong New Quality Productive Forces Policy Research Center was approved as a Guangdong Provincial Characteristic New Think Tank.
September: Hosted the 11th IPP International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the Future World in Nansha.
November：Professor Zheng Yongnian was appointed as an advisory member of SCUT’s Academic Committee.
November：Held the Frontiers of Science Economics (Winter 2024)—Science, Technology, and New Quality Productive Forces seminar.
December：Co-hosted the 2024 Greater Bay Area Development Guangzhou Think Tank Forum on Stimulating Innovation Through High-Level Opening-Up.
December：Joined the Global Bay Area Think Tank Alliance at the Understanding the Greater Bay Area International Communication Seminar.
2025
January：IPP was officially designated as a *Public Opinion Cooperation Cultivation Unit (2025-2026)* by the Cyberspace Administration of China.
March：Co-hosted the international symposium Human Decision-Making and AI: Choices and Governance with SCUT’s School of Public Administration.
April：Co-organized the Structural Transformation and Industrial Policy academic salon with Italy’s CiMET and SCUT’s School of Business Administration.
