On October 15th, the 5th forum on Contracts and Governance in the Digital Economy of East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), together with the 2026 International Industry-University-Research-Application Conference: Smart Economy and Governance Innovation Forum, took place in Lecture Hall 406, School of Business Building. Professor Jiang Chuanhai, Chair of the University Council; Professor Oliver Hart, 2016 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate, Professor at Harvard University, Honorary Professor of ECUST and Director of the Oliver Hart Research Centre of Contracts and Governance; Professor Wang Hualin, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Professor of ECUST, Director of Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director of the Three-Gorges Laboratory, attended the event alongside nearly 300 offline guests from government bodies, enterprises and universities. More than 3,000 viewings were recorded online. The opening ceremony was chaired by Vice President Yan Haifeng.

Caption: Professor JIANG Chuanhai gives a speech

   In his opening address, Jiang Chuanhai noted that artificial intelligence is profoundly reshaping production modes, lifestyles and the global competition landscape. New contractual relationships and corporate ESG compliance risks are emerging under digital-intelligent scenarios, calling for institutional innovation to ensure technology serves humanity well. Universities should act as sources of technological breakthroughs and pioneers in governance research. Over its 74-year history, ECUST has remained committed to its mission of nurturing talent for the Party and the nation. While strengthening its engineering-focused education, the university has also advanced humanities and social science disciplines. Leveraging the international platform of the Oliver Hart Research Centre of Contracts and Governance, ECUST continuously produces think-tank outputs and promotes two-way empowerment between academic research and industrial practice, as well as alignment between theoretical innovation and industrial demands. He expressed the university’s hope to deepen collaboration with all partners and make greater contributions to high-quality socio-economic development and national advancement.

Caption: LIU Jiaping gives a speech

    Liu Jiaping, President of the Shanghai Enterprise Confederation and Shanghai Entrepreneurs Association, stated that Shanghai is accelerating the development of its “2+3+6+6” modern industrial system and advancing the “AI+” initiative. The growth of the smart economy raises higher requirements for governance, and innovation goes hand-in-hand with compliance. Governance and compliance form intrinsic elements and fundamental institutions for the smart economy. He said the Shanghai Enterprise Confederation would strive to be a participant in rule-making, a facilitator of corporate empowerment and a builder of industrial ecosystems.

Caption: LIU Meng gives a speech

    Liu Meng, Representative of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) China Office, remarked that as the initiator of the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) framework, UNGC encourages enterprises to operate in line with its Ten Principles covering human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and embed sustainable development concepts into corporate strategies and daily operations. She observed that artificial intelligence brings new tools for energy conservation, carbon reduction, supply-chain accountability and climate-risk management, yet it also creates challenges such as rising energy consumption, algorithmic bias, privacy infringement and the digital divide. A governance mechanism covering the full lifecycle of artificial intelligence should therefore be established.

Caption: Oliver Hart gives keynote speech

    Professor Oliver Hart delivered a keynote speech entitled *Governance of AI-enabled Enterprises*. Starting from the common assumption of firms’ profit-maximisation objectives against product-safety concerns, he cited cases including the collapse of an Italian bridge, the Boeing 737 MAX incidents and corporate pollution discharges. He argued that short-term reputational constraints and legal liabilities cannot fully curb high-risk corporate behaviours under existing corporate governance frameworks. Where AI training objectives overemphasise quantifiable gains, more capable models may become adept at rule evasion; hence profit maximisation alone cannot guarantee safe operations of AI enterprises. He further analysed non-traditional governance structures such as OpenAI and Anthropic. While placing AI firms under the oversight of non-profit organisations or trusts represents a promising attempt, considerable uncertainties remain as to whether such entities can uphold their public-interest missions amid huge potential financial gains and intensifying market competition. He stressed that self-regulation by AI enterprises is insufficient, calling for enhanced international regulation and cooperation in the AI domain.

   Caption: WANG Hualin gives keynote speech

    Wang Hualin gave a keynote speech entitled *Origins of the Concept of Resource Carbon Neutrality and Reflections on Its Pathways*. He stated that resource carbon neutrality needs to be pursued in synergy with energy-structure transformation, geological carbon storage, ecosystem carbon sequestration and market-driven carbon integration. The core lies in shifting from the “linear consumption” of underground fossil resources to the “circular utilisation” of above-ground resources, and achieving rapid, controllable and low-carbon resource conversion with artificial acceleration. Faced with the limits of conventional process engineering, interdisciplinary research should be reinforced, and artificial intelligence should be harnessed for system integration, coupling and process optimisation.

Caption: Signing and announcement ceremony

    During the event, the Party Committee of the School of Business signed a Party-building co-construction agreement with the Party Branch of Shanghai AI Research Institute Co., Ltd. The Oliver Hart Research Centre of Contracts and Governance also concluded an industry-university-research cooperation agreement with the Centre of the Global Industrial AI Alliance of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, marking a new chapter for university-enterprise collaboration. Meanwhile, the ECUST-iBEST ESG-AI Platform suite was officially launched. It comprises the ECUST-Wind ESG Database and Rating Indices for four major sectors including the chemical industry, the RUIKA ESG-AI Agent, and the RUIKA ZHIDAO AI-ESG Intelligent Sand Table, forming a complete product system covering data infrastructure, intelligent tools and simulation-driven decision-making.

Caption: round-table session

    In the round-table forum moderated by Li Youping, Director of the Department of Economics at the School of Business, Professor Oliver Hart, Jiang Huiling, Dean of the Law School of Tongji University, Zhu Min, Party Secretary and Chairman of Shanghai Science and Technology Investment Group, and Song Haitao, President of Shanghai AI Research Institute and Member of the United Nations Independent International Scientific Group on AI, held in-depth dialogues centring on AI governance, corporate compliance and sustainable development.

    In the afternoon, six parallel sub-forums were convened, exploring themes including contracts and corporate governance in the digital economy, green chemical industry and ESG, AI governance and pluralistic regulation, ESG-driven high-quality development, artificial intelligence and the digital economy, as well as AI-enabled ESG governance.

   This forum demonstrated ECUST’s research strengths in contracts and governance, ESG and AI governance, and built a platform for exchanges and cooperation among government, industry, academia and research communities.