On November 30th, fifteen delegates of Global Think-tank, led by Pierre Defraigne, former Vice President of the Council of Europe, recently visited Shandong University. President of SDU Xu Xianming met and had a discussion with the delegation. The Vice President of SDU Lou Hongxiang also attended the meeting.
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President of SDU Xu Xianming meets with the delegation. |
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Pierre Defraigne, former Vice President of the Council of Europe |
Xu first extended a warm welcome to the delegation and then introduced Shandong University, talking about its scale, history, disciplines, and specialties. He emphasized the achievement and status of SDU in fields such as history, traditional Chinese culture, and Confucianism, as well as its relationships with other top universities in the world.
Mr. Defraigne expressed gratitude on behalf of the delegation for the gracious reception of SDU and praised SDU for the great contributions it has made in China in science and technology as well as in philosophy. He also exchanged opinions with Xu on matters such as the proper role of universities in the world on innovation, economy and politics.
In addition, Xu discussed the fourth function of universities, namely carrying forward the culture and enacting innovation - apart from the other three traditional roles: cultivating talents, scientific research, and social service.
Professor Fu Youde, Director of Center for Judaic and Inter-Religious Studies of SDU, professor Huang Yushun, Vice Dean of Advanced Institute for Confucian Studies of SDU, and professor Wang Xueyu, Director of Institute of European Studies of SDU, exchanged their ideas with the delegation on cross-culture communication, Confucianism and its impact on China’s social development, the contribution of SDU to the research on Europe, SDU’s cooperation with other institutes in the international stage and other aspects.
Professor Kong Lingdong, Director of SDU Development Planning Department, professor Ma Fengshu from SDU Political Science and Public Administration School, and officials from SDU International Affairs Department all met with the delegation and attended the meeting.
The delegation was accompanied by Jinxin, Vice Director of China Center for Contemporary World Studies, Ji Ping, Vice Director of China Foundation for Peace and Development, Sheng Jianhong, General Secretary of Shanghai Social Sciences Association, and some leading officials from the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) as well as the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Shandong Province.
Global Think-tank consists of Pierre Defraigne, Abdel Raouf EI Reedy, a member of Egypt's Supreme Council of Culture, Donald C. Hellmann, Professor and Director of Institute for International Policy, University of Washington, and senior consultants and experts from ten countries including Bulgaria, Bolivia, Serbia, Russia, Hungary, Holland, and Nepal. The delegation visited SDU after attending the “The Contemporary World Multilateral Dialogue” which was jointly hosted by the China Center for Contemporary World Studies and the China Foundation for Peace and Development.
Written by: Zheng Zhipeng
Photo by: Yang Yunlei
Edited by: Ben Hammer, Jing Zizhao