Peking University holds the second round of Executive Program for Senior Diplomats
Apr 11, 2019
Peking University, April 11, 2019: From March 19th to 21st, the Executive Program for Senior Diplomats, organized by Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, opened with a lecture on the outlook of China's Economy following the just-concluded "Two Sessions," a key political event guiding the future direction of China's political and economic development. The March 19th event was the fifth installment of the "Understanding China and the Belt & Road" lecture series hosted by Peking University’s Belt & Road Institute, and also marked the beginning of the second iteration of Guanghua’s Belt and Road Executive Program for Senior Diplomats, which ran until March 21.
Group photo
This program, initiated by the “Belt and Road” Institute, Peking University, enrolls senior diplomatic officials, with the aim of presenting and sharing the ideas and experience of China’s development over 40 years of Reform and Opening-Up. A total of 60 senior diplomats from the Delegation of the European Union to China and other 36 embassies, including that of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Spain, Egypt, Australia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Belarus, Mexico, etc., have responded enthusiastically to our invitation. Our program alumni also include 16 ambassadors.
This second round of the Program focuses on the intersections between China's domestic policies and foreign relations. The curriculum comprises four modules: “Understanding China through Two Sessions” examines current issues in Chinese society such as digital economy, taxation, etc. that were discussed in the Two Sessions; “A New Globe and China”, organized by Professor Tang Yao and Professor Wu Changyu, seeks to contextualize China’s economic policies in the global political climate; Module 3 “Distinctive China” explores the uniqueness of China’s economic rise, in which Professor Xu Xianping, Professor Zhou Li’an and Professor Zhang Yanlong offered socio-political and strategic rationales for China’s economic success; Module 4 “New trends in China's Development” envisages potential socio-economic changes in the near future, with Professor Liu Xiaomei and Su Meng sharing their predictions about how financial and information technology will shape China’s economy in the future.
The three-day session has been warmly commended by the program members, who interacted actively with the instructors of GSM and contributed their own thoughts to the discussions. For Ms. Rodriguez, Ambassador of Costa Rica, this was already the second time of her participation in the program and she is convinced that this course will help her keep up with the trend. Her claim is echoed by Mr. U Thit Linn Ohn, the Myanmar ambassador to China, who also said that the course is a timely opportunity for him to know more about China’s domestic policies. The Bulgarian ambassador Mr. Prozanov extols the program as a trailblazing enterprise.
Diplomats in the classroom
The ambassadors of Colombia, Iceland, Republic of Lithuania and Nepal all acclaimed respectively the academic rigor of the courses and expressed their gratitude for the invitation.
Written by: Ma Xiao
Edited by: Fu Wenyun
Source: PKU News (Chinese), Yenching Academy
