The 24th World Congress of Philosophy (WCP) drew to a close after eight days of sessions in Beijing from Aug 13-20.

This year's congress marked multiple firsts in its history, including being hosted in China for the first time since its debut 118 years ago and the designation of Mandarin as the official language for the first time.

The WCP bridges Chinese philosophy practitioners with their international counterparts from 121 countries and regions around the world, promoting multilateral cultural exchange, with scholars increasing their understanding of China and Chinese culture.

More than 7,000 registered for the event, the highest ever number in WCP history, and over 5,000 attended.

Apart from the plenary sessions and symposia, the congress also organized parallel, society, invited and student sessions and roundtables, which totaled more than 1,000 – a record.

This year's WCP's theme was based on the academic framework of Chinese traditional philosophy for the first time – learning to be human. At this year's event, overseas scholars from across the world discussed the core ideas of Chinese philosophy, showing the importance that international philosophical circles attach to Chinese philosophy and Chinese cultural values and highlighting China's increasing presence in global humanistic studies.

The Forum of China Business Philosophy, the leading event of Chinese business philosophy, attracted the attention of media. Journalists from 36 major media organizations, including People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Daily, CNR, Huanqiu, and China Leadership Science Magazine, covered the forum, which also attracted more than 13 million online views.

Bai Lixin, founder of the ZS Institute, delivered a keynote speech titled Human Civilization and Bright Future, which dealt with the fundamentals Chinese business philosophy. His speech was greeted by hearty applause and the text of the speech resonated with online readers after it was published on the ZS Institute's WeChat account.