On April 7th, Prof. Paul van der Heijden, Rector Magnificus of Leiden University (LU); Peter Ho, Professor of Chinese Economy and Development; and Marieke te Booij, Associate Director of the International Relations Office, visited SDU. President Xu met with the delegation and signed an action agreement on the Confucius Institute at LU.

At the meeting, Xu stated that Van der Heijden's visit was of historical significance to both SDU and LU and proposed to designate April 7 as ''Leiden Day'' at SDU to promote close and fruitful cooperation. Van der Heijden stated that LU places much importance on international development and that he believed future cooperation must focus more on the longterm development goals of the two universities. In particular, Van der Heijden expressed a willingness to further promote cooperation in fields of law and economy between LU and SDU.

During the visit, Van der Heijden also gave a presentation titled ''Leiden University, From 1575 to 2011 and Beyon'' to SDU teachers and students. Meanwhile, LU Prof. Peter Ho visited the School of Economics and discussed the possibility of future cooperation in this field.

SDU and LU signed an intercollegiate agreement on academic cooperation and exchange in April 2005. They have since collaborated on student exchanges and the Confucius Institute, as well as conducted research in the fields of archeology and life science.