Building bridges

Fudan University has made the opening-up of education a continuous driving force. It has set up various stages for the training and exchange of young talent in global governance, and continues to contribute to communication and mutual learning among civilizations, as well as to promoting people-to-people ties between China and the world.

"The diversity of international students at Fudan is impressively high. I've never met people from so many different countries. Now I have friends from all over Asia, Australia, and South America," says Lan Kajtner, a graduate student from Slovenia at Fudan's School of Economics.

The Shanghai Summer School (BRICS Program), the Fudan International Summer School, and the Advanced Training Program for Young Diplomatic Talents From Belt and Road Countries are among summer programs that have been well-received by international students over the past five years, according to the university.

"It was an important life decision to participate in the BRICS Program in 2018," says Pedro Steenhagen, a Brazilian doctoral student in international politics at Fudan University.

In March last year, Steenhagen visited Yangzhou in Jiangsu province as a representative of Brazil to participate in the BRICS Seminar on Governance and Cultural Exchange Forum 2023. In an interview to CGTN, he told the world about China's important role in global development, peacekeeping and the protection of BRICS partnerships.

Since the 1950s, more than 50,000 international students have graduated from Fudan University, becoming an important force in strengthening understanding of China and building bridges for Sino-foreign cooperation in all corners of the world.

Over the past few years, Fudan University has also taken the lead in setting up an international cooperation network. For example, it has opened its overseas centers for China studies at the University of California, San Diego, and at the University of Oslo.