In order to thoroughly implement the strategy of opening up education in the new era and accelerate the construction of a world-class university with distinctive financial and economic characteristics, Li Yongqiang, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and president of Southwest University of Finance and Economics, recently led a delegation to visit universities in Italy, Switzerland and France, focusing on the international layout of the new century-old school, focusing on Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools, academic collaborative innovation, talent exchange and cooperation and other fields to reach cooperation consensus with many universities, and promote the school's cooperation with Europe to a new level.
In Italy, the delegation visited the University of Venice and the University of Rome Sino. Li Yongqiang introduced the school's discipline construction, international exchanges and cooperation, and put forward corresponding opinions and suggestions on relying on the discipline characteristics and location advantages of both sides to strengthen collaborative scientific research and deepen cooperation in running schools. Li Jiya, President of the University of Venice, and Giuseppe Sicarone, Vice President of the University of Rome Siz, spoke highly of the school's outstanding achievements in the field of business education and expressed their willingness to take the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and China as an opportunity to deepen strategic cooperation between the two sides. Li Jiya focused on the advantages of business and linguistics and the accumulation of research on China, and expressed his willingness to focus on digital management, financial technology and data science to promote the implementation of Sino-foreign cooperative education projects, and the two sides reached a consensus to sign a memorandum of understanding at the university level. Giuseppe Cicarone highly affirmed the achievements of the two sides in the joint training of doctors, and fully exchanged views with us on further expanding the scale of doctoral double degree training and exploring new paths for cooperation in economic law and other fields.
In Switzerland, the delegation visited the University of Zurich, the University of Lucerne, and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Li Yongqiang pointed out that Switzerland is an international financial center and looks forward to cooperating with the "hidden champion" universities of business education in Switzerland, and the two sides can jointly explore new paths for collaborative development in the fields of financial technology, digital management, and art management. Martin Hartmann, President of the University of Lucerne, Barbara Bard, President of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and Chen Hui, Vice Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Information at the University of Zurich, all expressed their hope to establish a long-term mechanism for international exchanges and cooperation with the university, and strengthen joint training and academic exchanges in the fields of international financial management and digital art management.
In France, the delegation visited Paris Business School and Nantes Business School. Olivier Aptel, dean of Paris Business School, expressed his support for the joint establishment of the Sino-French Joint Research Center for Economics and Management, hoping to accelerate cooperation in the joint training programs such as DBA and MBA. Sebastian Tran, Dean of HEC Nantes, reached an agreement with us on the joint construction of Sino-foreign cooperative education projects on further integrating his own accumulation in the field of sustainable development and our university's advantages in green finance and corporate governance.
During the visit, the delegation also visited the Chinese Embassy in Italy and the Chinese Embassy in France, and met with Yu Xingguo, Counselor of the Embassy in Italy, and Zhou Jiagui, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy in France. The delegation also held discussions and exchanges with French alumni and doctoral students from many well-known universities.
This visit is an important measure for the university to promote the opening up of high-level education based on a new starting point in the new century, marking the cooperation between the university and European universities to a deeper and wider field. The heads of the President's Office, the International Exchange and Cooperation Office, the School of Business Administration, the School of International Education and other units accompanied the visit. END
