Peking University, Dec.3, 2011: The Peking University (PKU) delegation, led by Council Chairman Zhu Shanlu, started to visit North America at Stanford University on the morning of November 27, 2011.

During the visit, the delegation was well received and had a meeting with President John Hennessy, Provost John Etchemendy, and Sir Richard Saller, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences.

Chairman Zhu and President Hennessy

In the meeting, President Hennessy first welcomed the delegation, and expressed thanks to PKU for the reception there last month. During his visit last month at PKU, the two universities signed a cooperative agreement to build a Confucius Institute at Stanford.

The two universities agreed that their communication will reach an unprecedented level with the Confucius Institution agreement, as well as the Stanford Center to be built next year at PKU.

Professor Zhu Shanlu also pointed out that the two universities should continue to deepen their cooperation that the both sides could make it a routine to send exchange students and visiting scholars to each other, and provided more doctoral exchange programs. Meanwhile, he expressed the hope that a permanent office can be built for PKU at Stanford, which will be hugely helpful to bilateral communication.

President Hennessey agreed on the suggestion, and said Stanford is willing to provide all the possible support.

The meeting between PKU and Stanford administrations

After the meeting, the delegation toured Stanford, visiting the teaching buildings, the laboratories, the Art Museum and the Alumni Hall.

Then the delegation left Stanford and paid a visit to the University of California, Berkeley, where a memorandum of cooperation was signed that three universities -- PKU, UC Berkeley, Harvard -- will take turns to hold a forum on Chinese higher education for the related issues.

On the evening of November 28, the delegation was given a banquet by Madam Florence Fang, president of Fang Foundation and honorary trustee of PKU. Mr. Edwin Lee, mayor of San Francisco, and Auckland Mayor Jean Quan also attended the banquet and welcomed the visiting delegation. Professor Zhu Shanlu expressed thanks to their concern and support, and introduced to them the current situation of Chinese economy and the latest development of PKU.

Written by: Liao Songyuan
Edited by: Arthars
Source: Office of International Relations