Vice-President Yi Zhihong said that Renmin University of China has extraordinary strengths in the area of social sciences, while the University of Melbourne is a renowned university in Australia.
Renmin University has always attached great importance to its partnership with the University of Melbourne. Vice-President Yi expressed the hope that the two universities could further strengthen their partnership on the basis of their existing cooperation in public administration and humanities.
It is hoped that a comprehensive collaboration agreement can be signed between the two universities. Additionally, exchange on other subjects should also be promoted. Last but not least, a variety of student exchange channels should be explored, so that more students can benefit from learning at the two universities, Vice-President Yi said.
Principal Davis agreed with the three potential collaboration areas identified by Vice-President Yi. He hoped that further discussions can be held in that regard. At the same time, he suggested that the two universities start deepening cooperation in concrete subjects, such as law, finance and economics, and gradually build a comprehensive partnership.
Both Vice-President Yi and Principal Davis also shared their experiences in undergraduate education reform, joint education and double degree education, among other subjects.
Other participants in the meeting included Secretary of Party Committee of School of Foreign Languages Professor Zhang Yongxian, Vice-Dean of the School of Public Administration and Policy Xu Guangjian, Vice-Dean of the Law School Professor Yang Dong and Vice-Director of the International Office Cheng Xin.
Principal Davis was accompanied by Pro Vice-Chancellor Simon Evans, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning Tom Kvan and Chief Representative in Beijing Chen Qing from the University of Melbourne.
The University of Melbourne is Australia’s second oldest university, and a key member of the Group of Eight in Australia. The University is ranked thirty-fourth globally by Times Higher Education, and thirty-first by the QS World University Rankings. The University of Melbourne is ranked among the top ten for subjects including education, law, statistics and finance.
