From March 13 to 15, 2026, the Second Conference on the Development of Core Course Textbooks for the Statistics "101 Plan" was held in Guilin, Guangxi. The seminar was hosted by the Expert Group of the Statistics "101 Plan" under the Pilot Program for Education and Teaching Reform in Key Fields of the Ministry of Education, organized by the School of Mathematics and Statistics at Guangxi Normal University, and co-organized by Higher Education Press. More than 150 statisticians from universities across the country, along with members of the Statistics "101 Plan" Expert Group, representatives from participating universities, and lead developers of core course textbooks, gathered to discuss textbook development and talent cultivation.
At the opening ceremony, Wentao Huang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Normal University, delivered a speech. He pointed out that textbooks serve as the core vehicle for the inheritance and innovation of disciplinary knowledge systems. This symposium closely aligns with the national strategic goal of building a strong education system, focusing on overcoming key challenges in core curriculum textbooks, exchanging teaching experiences, and exploring pathways for practical education. It aims to lay a solid foundation for the Statistics "101 Plan" in developing first-class textbooks and cultivating top-tier talents.
Yingying Lan, Deputy Director of the Science Division at Higher Education Press, presented the progress in developing core textbooks and course resources to support the Statistics "101 Plan." She stated that the Press remains committed to its mission of deeply engaging in education, promoting scholarship, and serving society. Closely aligned with the national strategy for higher education, the Press fully supports disciplinary development and teaching reform.
Songxi Chen, Lead of the Statistics "101 Plan," Chair Professor at Tsinghua University, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reviewed the progress made in developing the core course textbooks and elaborated on the strategic significance of textbook development in the cultivation of statistics professionals. He emphasized that the "101 Plan" should be taken as an opportunity to coordinate the optimization of course systems and the construction of high-quality teaching resources, creating a set of outstanding textbooks that can stand the test of history and bear Chinese characteristics. This will enable the core courses to truly play a foundational and leading role in the cultivation of statistics talents, thereby providing solid talent support for the national big data strategy and the construction of Digital China.
During the textbook presentations and exchange sessions, experts and scholars from various universities delivered systematic presentations and conducted in-depth discussions on core textbooks and course development, including Bayesian Statistics, Statistical Machine Learning, Statistical Computing, Statistical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence, Introduction to Data Science, Biostatistics, and Economic Statistics. The discussions covered textbook writing approaches, course system design, teaching method reforms, and practical application expansion. Over the course of the seminar, participating experts engaged in thorough discussions on key and challenging issues in the development of core courses for the Statistics "101 Plan," reaching broad consensus on optimizing textbook content, strengthening course system coherence, and promoting teaching reform and innovation. These sessions were chaired by Professor Jun Liu of Tsinghua University, Professor Zhi Geng of Beijing Technology and Business University, Professor Jian Huang of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Professor Jianxin Pan of BNU-HKBU United International College, Professor Qihua Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Huazhen Lin of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.
Professor Ke Deng from Tsinghua University delivered a presentation titled "Some Reflections on the Teaching of Bayesian Statistics."
Professor Bingyi Jing from the Southern University of Science and Technology delivered a presentation titled "Statistical Machine Learning: Machine Learning from a Statistical Perspective."
Professor Xiaojun Mao from Shanghai Jiao Tong University delivered a presentation titled "Introduction to the Textbook Statistical Machine Learning."
Professor Liping Zhu from Renmin University of China delivered a presentation titled "Some Reflections on the Textbook Statistical Computing."
Associate Professor Feiyu Jiang from Fudan University delivered a presentation titled "Teaching Demonstration on Combinatorial Optimization in Statistical Computing."
Professor Wei Zhong and Assistant Professor Xianli Zeng from Xiamen University delivered a joint presentation titled "Introduction to the Textbook Statistical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence and Teaching Experience Sharing."
Professor Yong Zhou, Associate Professor Xingjie Shi, and Associate Professor Yingying Zhang from East China Normal University delivered a joint presentation titled "Data Science: Ideas, Methods, and Material Selection."
Professor Xingdong Feng from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics delivered a presentation titled "Teaching Practices and Reflections on Data Science."
Professor Hui Huang from Renmin University of China delivered a presentation titled "Teaching Design and Reflections on Biostatistics."
Professor Ruibin Xi from Peking University and Associate Researcher Shiyang Ma from Shanghai Jiao Tong University delivered a joint presentation titled "Introduction to the Textbook Biostatistics and Course Teaching."
Professor Xuguang Song from Beijing Normal University delivered a presentation titled "Economic Measurement and the System of Economic Accounts."
Professor Weiying Ping from Nanchang University and Yulu Zhang, Lecturer at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, delivered a joint presentation titled "Economic Measurement and the System of Economic Accounts."
The successful convening of this seminar has established a high-level platform for exchange on the development of core course textbooks for the Statistics "101 Plan." It plays a significant role in deepening undergraduate education and teaching reforms in statistics and enhancing the quality of cultivating top-notch innovative talents. It also injects new momentum into the high-quality development of statistics in China in the new era.
