On November 11, the 4th International Symposium on Space Law and Space Law Session of IPSPACE 2023 of Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) was held in Beijing. Wang Qijiang, Vice President of China Law Society, Bao Liying, Deputy Secretary of Beijing Institute of Technology, Pan Yingli, the Department of System Engineering of the China National Space Administration , Wang Tianyi, Executive Chairman of the International Peace Alliance (Space) and Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, attended the meeting, as well as nearly 200 Chinese and foreign experts and scholars from the relevant government departments, scientific research institutes, laboratories and universities, and industrial circle participated in the conference.

Wang Qijiang firstly congratulated the organization of this seminar on behalf of the China Law Society. Xi Jinping,General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has made important expositions and instructions on many occasions for building a strong spacefaring nation. Assisting a strong spacefaring nation through the rule of law in space is the meaning of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important exposition on the development of the space industry, and it is also an inevitable requirement to effectively implement Xi Jinping's thought on the rule of law and the holistic approach to national security, and to push forward the high-quality development of spacefaring industry. Wang Qijiang fully affirmed the significance of this meeting, put forward constructive comments on the study of space law in the new era, and at the same time, expressed his appreciation for the contributions made by BIT Law School in supporting the negotiation of China's international rules on space, serving the national space diplomacy, and cultivating talents for the rule of law in space.

In her speech, Bao Liying introduced the important contributions made by Beijing Institute of Technology to the development of China's aerospace industry, reviewed the thirty-year history of legal education in BIT, and emphasized that the School of Law has always followed the needs of the country's major development strategies and the development trend of science and technology, and walked out of the "law + science and technology" development path with BIT's characteristics. She pointed out that the peaceful exploration and utilization of outer space is facing many challenges, and it is necessary to establish and develop more perfect international legal rules on outer space to deal with them. She expected all experts to strengthen interdisciplinary and cross-field cooperation and continuously promote the in-depth development of space law research.

Pan Yingli, on behalf of the Department of System Engineering of China National Space Administration, warmly congratulated the organization of the seminar. He talked about the current space law has played an increasingly important role in the overall security, development, cooperation, etc. Since the space law is included in the national legislative planning, the legislative process has been accelerated, and he expects the space law to be introduced as soon as possible to provide strong rule of law safeguards and support for China's space industry and space activities.

In his speech, Wang Tianyi pointed out that the law plays an important role in guaranteeing the exploration and utilization of outer space, and that how to manage and regulate the space activities of all countries in the world, maintain stability in space and ensure the peaceful use of space is crucial to the future of mankind. He believed that only through the full cooperation of the international community could the issue of the peaceful uses of outer space be effectively resolved and the sustainable development of outer space ensured.

The session established the Outstanding Paper Award of the 4th International Symposium on Space Law of Beijing Institute of Technology, and the leaders and guests of the session awarded the first, second and third prizes as well as the award certificates of the Outstanding Paper Award to the winning experts and scholars, so as to encourage further development of the research on space law.

The keynote report session was hosted by Yang Kuan, assistant dean of the School of Law of BIT and deputy director of the Institute of Space Policy and Law of BIT. Chief Designer of Chang'e 8 Project, Mr. Pei Zhaoyu, Prof. Su Jinyuan from Institute of International Law of Wuhan University, Researcher Gong Zizheng from China Academy of Space Technology, Prof. He Qisong from School of Government Administration of East China University of Political Science and Law , Researcher Li Mingtao from National Center for Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Associate Prof. Wang Guoyu from School of Law of BIT made wonderful presentations on the theme of the conference.

The thematic reporting session was hosted by Prof. Li Juqian, Professor of School of International Law, China University of Political Science and Law, and Director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office of the University. Mr. Wang Xiaowei, researcher of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology , Mr. Feng Guodong, Deputy General Counsel of Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, Mr. Anmet Hamdi Tarkan, expert of Turkish Space Agency, Mr. Li Guoqi, Director of Legal Compliance Department of China Great Wall Industry Corporation, Mr. Li Hongbo, researcher of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and Mr. Hua Guoliang, Frequency Track and Technical Director of Galaxy Aerospace, delivered their respective reports.

In the afternoon, the seminar was divided into three sub-forums, with the themes of "Outer Space Security and Space Debris Governance", "Commercialization of Outer Space and Outer Space Resource Exploitation", and "International Cooperation in Outer Space and Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space". "More than 20 experts and scholars made brilliant reports on the above topics.

The symposium carried out exchanges of views and clashes of ideas on "Global Governance of Outer Space under the Great Changes in the World", and the reporting experts shared the latest research results and explored the major frontier issues of outer space law. The seminar promoted the cross-fertilization of space technology and legal research, and further enhanced the international influence of the discipline of space law at BIT.