On the afternoon of September 24^th, RUC President, Professor Chen Yulu, met with Professor Ivan Ilchev, the current Rector [President] of Sofia University (also known as St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia). Advisor to the Bulgarian Embassy in Beijing, Ivan Dimitrov, was also present. This marks the second time President Chen has welcome Mr. Ilchev, after a previous meeting in 2009. The two schools hope to develop international programs with English language as a platform for Eastern European studies, history, and other fields of cooperation. In his speech, President Chen pointed out that the “Silk Road Economic Zone” has become an area of focus for Chinese diplomacy and that he hopes these programs between the two institutions will contribute to the continued development of relations between China and the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. President Ilchev thanked President Chen for his invitation, then discussed Sofia University’s English platform and international student exchange programs, as well as the university’s Chinese and East Asian research efforts. He also invited RUC’s law, East Asian, archaeology and other scholars to participate in cooperative research and teaching. Subsequently, the two leaders signed an “Academic Memorandum of Cooperation” on the behalf of their universities, making RUC and Sofia University official partners.