After more than a century of relentless efforts by generations of scholars, China has made solid strides in building a discipline focused on the study of its border regions.

In contemporary China, the border areas primarily consist of nine provincial-level administrative divisions—Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province, Xizang Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province and Liaoning Province, which altogether cover 61.8 percent of the country's total landmass, along with its maritime borders. Scattered along China's 22,000-km-long land border like a string of pearls, the 140 counties in these nine border regions are the primary focus of border region studies and form the bedrock for constructing the country's homegrown system within this area of study.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, the CPC Central Committee has put forward a series of major ideas and initiatives that have powered the rise of border region studies in the new era.

These guidelines and initiatives underscore the importance of border regions in national governance and focus on revitalizing these regions, improving local living standards and boosting their stability and security. President Xi Jinping's insights into border governance, particularly his emphasis on strengthening theoretical support, have charted a path for the advancement of border region studies.

To encourage high-quality development in the country's border regions, it is essential for the discipline to keep evolving. Three key areas should be prioritized in this effort.

The first is to assemble a team of talented researchers. Throughout its early development phase, building a strong research team remains a major challenge for China's border region studies. While individual efforts may yield occasional successes, they are unlikely to have a broad impact. Only through large-scale collaboration can we achieve a sustained output of influential and solid research results.

Therefore, the mobilization of all resources to expand our talent pool has become the most urgent task at hand. Experts and scholars who have devoted their careers to border region studies should form the core and backbone of this endeavor.

Individuals with extensive experience in primary-level governance and field surveys in border regions should serve as a strong driving force. In addition, international scholars, particularly those from neighboring countries, should be recognized as valuable sources of insights and expertise.

Next, we should establish an open and inclusive disciplinary framework. Border region studies are inherently interdisciplinary, as it encompasses natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, national security, border governance, and many other indispensable domains.

As border region studies have entered a new phase, scholars must not limit themselves to rigid disciplinary classifications. The comprehensive nature of this area of study requires scholars to cultivate a vast interdisciplinary network of knowledge and from there produce research findings that are uniquely relevant to the country's border regions. Only through this approach can we break away from the current Western-centric system of disciplinary classification and create a new academic framework that reflects China's social realities.

Last but not least, we must have a clear understanding of the core drive behind academic research. The ultimate purpose of this field of study should not be theoretical learning, but practical application.

The focus of border region studies should be on exchange and integration among different ethnic groups, as well as the great binding force of shared cultural heritage. As a saying in Zuo Zhuan, often translated as The Commentary of Zuo—an ancient chronicle covering the history of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) when vassal states fought for supremacy, goes, "The ancient kings demarcated the land to better govern the country."

Border region studies should concentrate on addressing the following questions: Where does this binding force come from; how has it evolved; what are the breakthrough points; and what will happen in the future?

The answers to these questions will provide a theoretical framework for the growth of this field of research and facilitate the application of research results in advancing borderland governance, fostering ethnic solidarity and building a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation. XT

This is an edited excerpt of an opinion piece published in newspaper Xinjiang Daily in January

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