Overseas journalists impressed by Shanghai campus, CIIE
Over 30 foreign journalists visited the Shanghai Jiao Tong University campus in Minhang on Wednesday, where they learned of the past and present of the school, and had exchanges with some overseas students studying there.
The reporters visiting the Shanghai Jiao Tong University's new campus in Minhang were from Asia and the Pacific, and Africa. Prior to this they visited the ongoing China International Import Expo.
On the same day, roughly an equal number of students, mainly from Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Arab countries visited Fudan University.
While visiting the SJTU History Museum, the international journalists learned how Western influences have been important from the very beginning for the school, which started as Nanyang College in 1896, a trailblazer in modern education that, after going through many stages, became Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1959.
About 30 journalists from Asia and Pacific and Africa visited the Minhang campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University on November 8.
In the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Dean Chien-Pin Chen briefed the visitors on the achievements of the Joint Institute, which is the result of strategic partnership between top universities in the United States and China aiming at becoming a world-class institute for "nurturing future leaders with global vision." It was the first Chinese institute to win the Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education.
Speaking about the importance of global exchanges, Abubakar Harith, a TV presenter from Tanzania, said such events as the ongoing China International Import Expo bring new opportunities for development, in all aspects, with good results. For instance, Harith said, Chinese practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine are very popular in Zanzibar, a major seaport in Tanzania.
Visiting journalists discuss an invention with a student in a creation lab.
Dahir Abdullahi, a reporter for the Somali National News Agency, said that the CIIE is an excellent platform for businessmen, officials and small enterprises from around the world to converge in China.
"China is the second largest economy in the world and, as China continues to open up its market, this brings more opportunities for developing countries in terms of trade, market, technology and construction, resulting in greater economic inclusiveness," Abdullahi said.
He was impressed by his recent visit to Shanghai where, in spite of the city's status as a major industrial and commercial centre of China, he could see modernity existing side by side with tradition.
Inspired by what he had experienced for the past few months, Abdullahi is working on a book that would detail his China trip, as well as give a survey of Chinese civilization, history and its modernization. The book is due to come out early next year.
