'Building community with a shared future': Nankai University briefing of foreign experts and overseas students on the 19th CPC National Congress

Nankai University held a symposium on the recently concluded 19th CPC National Congress for foreign experts and overseas students of the University on Nov 3.

Yang Chunhua(L1)delivers a lecture in the symposium.[Photo privided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yan Chunhua, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Vice President of Nankai University, delivered a lecture in English with a theme of "Promote the building of a community of human destiny and jointly create a beautiful future for mankind." More than 200 foreign experts and overseas students from nearly 70 countries and regions attended the symposium.

Yan introduced an overview of the 19th CPC National Congress, the spirit and highlights of the Party report as well as the current task of building a world-class university and first-class disciplines at Nankai University.

He also pointed out that China has made a series of visible changes in the past five years and gave the example of Tianjin, which is more beautiful and cleaner than five years ago.

Moreover, rural residents have been enjoyed the same benefits as urban residents.

"We no longer treat foreign people as guests by just showing them the good side. We have started to show them a true China. China is developing fast, but is also facing some problems." Yan explained that the key societal challenges facing China have shifted in the past few decades.

He also compared the people's demands of 30 years ago and now."We are working hard to deal with these issues in the hope that we can work together to build a beautiful China. What is meant by 'beautiful' is not only clean air and natural scenery, but includes all-round development of people," he added.

Mohamed Jihad Mohamed, an international student from Egypt who is currently studying at the College of Chinese Language and Culture said, "Both China and Egypt are ancient civilizations. China is my second home country and has grown rapidly in recent years, while Egypt is still facing many major problems. We need to learn from China. The Belt and Road initiative is very popular in Egypt, and we have already enjoyed the benefits of this initiative. As President Xi Jinping said, China and Egypt are good friends. We believe that with the help of China, Egypt will have a better future."

Phillip Ramon Bryant, a medical expert from the School of Medicine said, "The lecture was exciting and encouraging. It was so informative and we can now better understand the philosophy of CPC governance. I am greatly touched by the fact that the people-centered concept for development was mentioned quite a few times in the 19th CPC National Congress report. I am sure the Chinese people will live a better life guided by this philosophy." In the question session, many foreign students like Carl, Abdulkarem Mohammed Mohammed Anaf,a PhD student from the Business School, asked questions regarding the future role that China will play in the international arena after the 19th CPC National Congress, focusing on the relationship between the development of China and the future of the world, and Marxism in China.

A foreign student asks questions in the symposium.[Photo privided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Currently, there are nearly 800 foreign experts and 3,000 overseas students studying or working at Nankai University.