From October 19^th to 22^nd, Renmin University hosted the first cohort of US-American “Zhi-Xing China” fellows upon the group’s arrival in Beijing. In cooperation with Eisenhower Fellowships and supported by China’s Ministry of Education, the Zhi-Xing – “experiencing” – China Young Elites Fellowship Program (青年菁英项目) aims at bringing together young leaders from around the United States for one month of intensive cultural training and meetings with Chinese officials, business leaders, and other experts in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, and Xi’an. The initiative responds to the need to forge closer ties and to build trust and understanding between Chinese and US leaders across the public and private sectors. Participants in this year’s program were handpicked for their four-week, individually catered China experience and came to Renmin University, their first port of call in China, hopeful not only to acquire more knowledge in their respective fields of expertise within a Chinese context, but keen to learn more about the ancient culture, history, and socio-political conditions that have shaped what we know as China today. On the first day of their visit, RUC President CHEN Yulu and other university leaders welcomed the Zhi-Xing fellows at the Guoxue Guan Building for the program launch. Among the speakers at the ceremony were SHENG Jianxue, Chairman of the China Education Association for International Exchange, Chief Program Officer of the Eisenhower Fellowships, Jane Grabias, and former Eisenhower Fellow Professor DING Xiaoliang. Over the course of just three days, the fellows were treated to different lecture series given by leading scholars in economics, law, philosophy, music, and architecture from Beijing University, Qinghua University, and, of course, from RUC. At the start of each day, the group was instructed in the basics of conversational Mandarin; for many, this year marked their first visit to China – for some it was their first trip to Asia. The afternoons and evenings were taken up with official visits and cultural highlights, including a visit to the US Embassy, a VIP reception and Q&A session at the Chinese Supreme Court (中国最高法官), a guided tour and official introduction to Didi Dache Company located in the north of Beijing, a visit to the Beijing opera with front-row seats, and a stroll through some of the Forbidden City with visits to recently opened exhibits. In all the lectures, the group showed a great deal of enthusiasm, wanting to know more about the present state of Chinese corporate law, financial investment, e-commerce, debates on population control, urban architecture, the traditional Chinese value system. Each lecture session was followed by lively debate as fellows drew connections between their own professional backgrounds and cultural settings and the “China Model,” or Chinese version. All of the Chinese professors had spent time abroad and made frequent use of Sino-US comparisons, while the American fellows had come prepared to discuss specific challenges and sketch out possible future scenarios in their own business dealings and cooperation with China. Zhi-Xing China offers a unique opportunity to mid-career American elites to get to know the country, its people, and its institutions on Chinese soil and through the eyes of its leaders, scholars, businesspeople, and other professionals.

For more information on the program, please visit zhi-xingchina.ceaie.edu.cn and efworld.org/zhi-xing.