Source: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Written by: Ian Heuer
Photo by: Wang Yiping
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the morning of September 14, 2017, a delegation comprised of the Ambassador for the European Union (EU) to China, Mr. Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, and a group of Consuls-General to Guangzhou from various EU member states visited Sun Yat-sen University’s (SYSU) Guangzhou East Campus to officially open an exhibition marking the 60th anniversary since the founding of the EU.

SYSU Vice President Professor Xiao Haipeng led the SYSU representatives in receiving the delegation at the Guangzhou East Campus Library. Vice President Xiao welcomed the delegates and remarked that SYSU and European partners have a long history of successful collaboration. Ambassador Schweisgut noted that given SYSU’s status as the most prestigious university in South China, he was eager to support SYSU’s cooperative relations with all European universities and research institutes.
After the initial reception meeting, Vice President Xiao and the European delegates proceeded to the main atrium of the library where the exhibition commemorating the 60th anniversary of signing of the Treaty of Rome had been set up. The exhibition was principally organized by the Delegation of the European Union to China, Consulate of Italy in Guangzhou, with support for organization provided by SYSU. Vice President Xiao delivered opening remarks to the gathered student and faculty representatives, noting that students are the future of China, and therefore hold the keys to the future of China-Europe relations. He also expressed his hope that the exhibition could serve as a gateway for sparking students’ interest in European history and culture, and serve as a platform for strengthening understanding of and cooperation with Europe.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ambassador Schweisgut remarked that China and the EU have made joint efforts to face common global challenges and expressed his desire to promote the understanding of the EU through the exhibition, so as to benefit the overall cooperation between China and the EU. He mentioned the number of European students studying in China and Chinese students studying in Europe as indicative of a bright and positive future for Sino-EU cooperation.

The meeting and opening ceremony activities were attended by representatives from the Belgian, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Dutch and British Consulate Generals in Guangzhou; as well as SYSU representatives from the Guangzhou East Campus Library, the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, and other relevant departments.

Sun Yat-sen University has cooperative relationships with more than 70 European universities in 13 countries. In recent years, our university has had more than 700 students from Europe each year in our school partaking in short-term or long-term study.