From April 13 to 15, XJTU Institute for Empirical Social Science Research and a group of faculty members and students from the Department of Sociology held a series of academic activities at the University of Minnesota (US). Nearly 50 teachers and students from the University of Minnesota's Department of Sociology took part in the activities and they welcomed the topics of "Chinese Study Group" and showed deep interest in it. The Dean of the Department of Sociology of University of Minnesota, Professor Chris Uggen, fully affirmed the positive effect of Chinese Study Group on the Department of Sociology of University of Minnesota.

The Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Bian Yanjie, set up "Chinese Study Group" in the Department of Sociology of University of Minnesota. Besides the jointly trained doctoral students assigned by the Department of Sociology and the Institute for Empirical Social Science Research, the members of the group included other members like the teachers and doctoral students from Beijing University and Nankai University. "Chinese Study Group" is concerned with the study of Chinese society. It holds weekly meetings at which the members of the group report on their ongoing research and entertain comments from the other members.