The 8th International Conference on New Development of Appraisal was held in Wuhan On December 8, 2018.  The forum was hosted by the School of Business Administration (MBA Education Center) at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, Hubei Province, with the supporting of CAS (China Appraisal Society), ASA (American Society of Appraisal), IACVS (International Association of Certified Valuation Specialists), Asset Appraisal Research Center of Xia Men University and the Capital University of Economics and Finance. The theme of the conference is “Appraisal in the Age of AI: Inheritance and Innovation”. More than 120 participants from China, the United States, Russia, Germany, Japan, Singapore and other countries attended the conference.

At the opening ceremony of the forum, Mr. Zou Bingguo, Assistant to the President of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, reviewed the development of the asset assessment profession in Zhongnan Finance and Economics Law, affirmed the academic research value of the forum and promoted the valuation industry in China.   Mr. Wang Chengjun and Mr. Liu Dengqing delivered the opening speeches respectively.

At the keynote speech reporting session, Dr. Karl Sheeler from the United States, Mr. Alexander Lopatnikov from Russia, Sano Yosuke from Japan, Zhang Guochun, Secretary General of the China Appraisal Society, and Cai Hengjin (Artificial Intelligence Expert) from Wuhan University gave a wonderful speech and pushed the forum into a rigorous academic exchange climax.

Mr. William Hanlin, president of IACVS, delivered a speech entitled “Valuation in the Midst of Valuation”. Mr. Hanlin introduced the definition and extension of artificial intelligence in the world, reviewed the development history and current situation of intelligence to artificial intelligence, and expected the deep development of intelligence may bring challenges to the valuation industry. Besides, Mr. Hanlin pointed out current smart applications such as the AVM - AVM has some impacts on the real estate appraisal projects, but it is difficult to participate in other asset appraisals, risk-based judgments and analysis, and believe it needs time to approve the real artificial intelligence will have influence to the society and industry. Hanlin’s speech was warmly affirmed by the participants, and the opinions of the report were also recognized by the other speakers.

The sub-session of the conference is focus on “The Status and Inheritance of Assets Valuation” and “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Asset Valuation”. 14 professors from University, research Center and Valuation Institute gave wonderful speeches on topics such as assessment methods, innovation and internet company valuation, credit valuation, valuation applications for deep learning neural networks, and valuation applications for big data and digital.  In the afternoon's theme report, Mr. Liu Dengqing introduced the impact of changes in the supervision of the capital market. Professor Wang Haisu proposed and introduced the research on the intrinsic value of enterprises.

The discussion session focused on the development of artificial intelligence and asset appraisal industry. 5 professors gave their views from different perspective and put forward some ideas for the development of the industry.

At the end of the conference, the guests presented the award certificate to the author of the excellent conference paper, and the meeting ended with warm applause. 

IACVS congratulated this conference was successfully held in Wuhan.