On March 11, NYU President Linda G. Mills traveled to Beijing to meet with the Vice Minister of Education Chen Jie. NYU Shanghai Chancellor Tong Shijun, Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman, and Provost Joanna Waley-Cohen were also in attendance at the meeting.
During the meeting, Vice Minister Chen acknowledged the success of NYU Shanghai and revisited Sino-US educational exchanges and collaborations in the past. In the meantime, he welcomed more students from NYU to come to China for studies, under the country’s new initiative which invites 50,000 American young adults to China for study and exchange over the next five years.
President Mills and Vice Minister Chen also exchanged ideas on topics such as the role NYU Shanghai can play in light of current Sino-US relations.
"During this period of geopolitical tensions, I believe that NYU Shanghai has become an important example of how people-to-people relationships can transform society's perceptions of what is possible,” Mills said at the meeting.
As China’s first Sino-US research university, founded by NYU and East China Normal University in 2012, NYU Shanghai aspires to cultivate graduates through world-class research and facilitate cross-cultural exchange. NYU Shanghai has built a unique community where half the undergraduate students are from China and half are from the rest of the world.
Vice Minister Chen expressed his hope that NYU Shanghai will continue to contribute to Sino-US collaborations in higher education in the years to come. He also talked with President Mills about NYU Shanghai’s future going forward.
"It was an absolute privilege to have the opportunity to meet with Vice Minister Chen, to hear more first hand about the Ministry's ambitious plans and their commitment to partnering with us to help ensure that NYU Shanghai continues upon its extraordinary trajectory,” said Mills after the meeting.