On the afternoon of November 3, the welcome ceremony for the 9th SIT-FONTYS China Economic Week was held at the Xuhui Campus. Wang Ying, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee and Vice President of SIT, attended the ceremony and delivered a welcome speech. Chen Qingchang, Director of the Office of International Exchange, Li Zhengdong, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Faculty of Management, Wang You, project leader of the China Economic Week on the Dutch side at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Liu Yuan, Chinese project leader of the Faculty of Management, as well as faculty and student representatives of both universities, attended theevent. The ceremony was presided over by Xiong Yan, Dean of the Faculty of Management.
On behalf of SIT, Wang Ying extended a warm welcome to the Dutch faculty and students who had come from afar, and expressed sincere gratitude to the project teams that have long advanced exchanges and cooperation between the two universities. She noted that the two universities enjoy a solid foundation for cooperation in applied talent cultivation and practical teaching, and expressed the hope that, with the China Economic Week as a bond, the two sides will further deepen cooperation in curriculum teaching, industrial study tours and faculty-student exchanges, and guide young students to broaden their international horizons and enhance their practical abilities in real industrial settings.
In her speech, Wang You, project leader of the China Economic Week on the Dutch side, reviewed the development of the China Economic Week, shared the experience of the two universities in carrying out teaching cooperation and youth exchanges on a sustained basis, and expressed her expectation of further deepening cooperation. She hoped that Chinese and Dutch students would cherish this exchange opportunity and, through enterprise practice and cross-cultural teamwork, enhance mutual understanding and grow together.
At the ceremony, student representatives from both sides spoke and shared their expectations for the China Economic Week. The two sides exchanged commemorative gifts and posed for a group photo. Afterwards, the Chinese and Dutch student teams gave project presentations, exchanging project ideas and implementation plans around their enterprise research topics, which showcased the students' active participation and collaborative spirit.
The SIT-FONTYS China Economic Week is a key brand project of the Faculty of Management in advancing the cultivation of internationalized talents. Since its launch in 2018, with the joint efforts of the two project founders — Wang You on the Dutch side and Liu Yuan on the Chinese side — and the teaching teams of both universities, the project has been held for nine consecutive sessions and has gradually developed a practical teaching approach that is oriented to real enterprise problems and integrates professional learning with cross-cultural collaboration. This year's event focused on the robotics industry, AI workspaces, security communications and cross-border food marketing. Through thematic lectures, enterprise visits, team research and cultural experiences, it helped students gain a deeper understanding of China's economic development and industrial innovation practices, and improved their professional analysis and cross-cultural communication skills.
In 2027, the China Economic Week will reach the milestone of its tenth session. The Faculty of Management will take this opportunity to further leverage its strengths in applied talent cultivation and industry-education integration, deepen cooperation with Fontys University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands in joint curriculum development, faculty-student mutual visits, enterprise practice and joint training, and continue to improve the quality of internationalized talent cultivation, so as to take the exchanges and cooperation between the two universities to a deeper level.
