President of the University of Melbourne Visited NJU

On October 15, the delegation of the University of Melbourne, the special commissioner of the state of Victoria in China and the delegation of entrepreneurs of the state of Victoria visited NJU to discuss the cooperation in the business studies and the environmental science between the two universities.

In the morning, more than ten leaders and professors from NJU and the University of Melbourne, governmental officials of Jiangsu Province and the state of Victoria and representatives from the enterprises in Victoria gathered around a round table as the Jiangsu Victoria Conference on Commerce and Environment began. Zou Yajun, director of NJU's Center for International Cooperation and Exchange, presided over the conference.

Shi Jianjun, deputy president of NJU, said in his welcoming speech that NJU signed the first cooperation agreement with the University of Melbourne in 2000, which marks the beginning of steady and fruitful exchange. In 2007, establishment of the Confucius Institute by the two universities was a milestone of their cooperation. President Shi also expressed his hope that Jiangsu province and the state of Victoria can take this conference as the turning point to exchange sparks of extraordinary thoughts.

Professor Crosby from the business school of the University of Melbourne and Dean Zhao Shuming from the business school of NJU introduced economic situations in Australia and China respectively. Mr. Brandt, special commissioner of the state of Victoria in China, and Li Chunjiang, assistant director of the economic and trade Commission of Jiangsu, respectively introduced the economic development of the two areas and discussed their huge potential in commercial cooperation.

In the field of environment,experts and entrepreneures discussed the promising prospect of cooperation on the research of water and technologies for eliminating water pollution. After the conference, President Chen Jun met with the guests and held a welcoming banquet for them.

In the afternoon, the Second Conference of the Joint Management Committee of the Nanjing University the University of Melbourne Confucius Institute unites management committee conference" was held in NJU's Overseas Education School. Dean Chen Aimin presided over the conference. Other attendants included Zhang Yibin, deputy president of NJU, Zhou Xian, president assistant of NJU, Professor Lachs, deputy president of the University of Melbourne, and Professor Barbara, director of the Confucius Institute of Melbourne.

At the conference, Director Barbara stated that since its establishment last year, the institute has been providing Chinese training to the Australian government and enterprises and held a series of activities during the Beijing 2008 Olympics. All these efforts enhanced the Australian people's understanding of China, the Chinese people and the glorious and time-honored Chinese culture.

President Zhang Yibin praised the splendid work of the committee and proposed a joint "2+2" MA program in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language between the two universities. Namely, the students will study in NJU and the University of Melbourne for two years respectively and will be awarded the diploma by both of the universities when the program is finished.