On the afternoon of September 27, the 3rd International Design 100 Summit Forum, one of the three main forums of the 2024 World Design Capital Conference (WDCC), was held in a grand manner. Zhuang Mudi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, attended the forum and delivered a speech. The forum was hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information and Tongji University, and co-organized by Tongji University College of Design and Innovation and Shanghai International Design 100 Think Tank.

The theme of the 3rd International Design 100 Summit Forum is “Design as the New Productive Force”, and leading guests from the UK, Australia, Italy, Finland, Japan and South Korea are invited to join Chinese designers in a discussion about the development of the design industry in Shanghai and worldwide. 

Tang Zilai, Counselor of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, chief planner of the Urban Best Practices Area of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, Dan Hill, Dean of the School of Design at the University of Melbourne and co-founder of the Helsinki Design Laboratory, Li Jingyao, Vice President of Design at Volvo Cars Asia Pacific, and John Thackara, Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts and renowned sustainable design thinker, delivered four keynote speeches. The four experts, respectively, investigated the potential of design to serve as an innovative engine for new quality productivity from the perspectives of city, environment, industry, and ecology.

The subsequent three panel discussions centered on the topic of “The New Forms of Designers”, “Managing Design for Innovation” and “Reframing the Relations of Production through Design”. 

As one of significant outcomes of the 1st WDCC in 2022, Tongji University was commissioned by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information to lead the establishment of the "Shanghai International Design 100 Talents Think Tank". At this forum, Liu Yiping, Deputy Inspector of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information, issued appointment letters to the third batch of experts from the Shanghai International Design 100 Think Tank.