On September 23, the 9th International Conference on Estuaries and Coasts opened in Qinzhou. With the theme "From Tradition to Artificial Intelligence: Estuarine and Coastal Evolution and Modern Civilization," the conference attracted about 300 experts and scholars from 22 countries across five continents. As one of the co-organizers, our university was deeply involved in organizing the conference and in the release of the Qinzhou Initiative on Global Estuarine and Coastal Sustainability.

The conference was hosted by the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, the People's Government of Qinzhou Municipality of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Department of Water Resources of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Department of Transport of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and was jointly organized by our university, Beibu Gulf University, Guangxi Normal University, and other institutions. The conference released the Qinzhou Initiative on Global Estuarine and Coastal Sustainability, which advocates that the global academic community strengthen cross-boundary collaboration to jointly address ecological and environmental challenges in estuaries and coasts. Our university gave full play to its disciplinary and think-tank strengths and was deeply involved in the research and release of the initiative, contributing Guangxi University wisdom to global estuarine and coastal ecological protection and governance.

Relying on the School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi University organized Topic 2 of the conference, the "Natural Processes and Mechanisms of Estuaries and Coasts" sub-venue. Participating experts shared the latest theoretical findings and research models and fully exchanged views on frontier advances in estuarine and coastal process research, providing solid theoretical support for understanding the laws of estuarine and coastal evolution and for coastal ecological restoration. The thematic forum was well organized and featured a strong atmosphere of discussion, fully demonstrating our university's organizational capacity and academic accumulation in hydraulic engineering and estuarine and coastal science, and serving as an important practice in giving play to our university's think-tank role, deepening international academic dialogue, and serving local development.

The School of Civil Engineering and Architecture will take this conference as an opportunity to further strengthen discipline development and scientific research in estuarine and coastal-related fields, proactively act as a practitioner and promoter of the initiative, continue to deepen industry-university-research collaborative innovation, and translate academic research results into practical strength for serving the protection and restoration of the Beibu Gulf coastal zone and its high-quality development.