On the morning of December 9, 2016, the president of Chamber of Representatives of Belgian Federal Parliament, Mr. Siegfried Bracke, accompanied by Mr. Michel Malherbe, Belgian Ambassador to China and other team members, paid a visit to the SCU, and had an informal discussion with some of our teachers and students.

Vice President Yan Shijing, on behalf of the university, extended a warm welcome to the distinguished guests. He looked back at the friendly exchanges and fruitful cooperation in recent years between the SCU and the institutions of higher learning of Belgium, highlighting the basic information about the Center for European Studies of SCU and the progress of Europe-oriented studies and exchanges. He indicated that: our study of the mutual recognition among the youth of China and Belgium, among China and Europe as a whole is intended to facilitate mutual understanding and trust, and lay a foundation for future cooperation between both sides; we’re willing to, through practical people-to-people and cultural exchanges, lay a solid social and popular basis for Sino-Belgium relation and Sino-Europe relation as well; and more Belgian scholars and students are welcome to visit or study in the SCU, and experience the local landscape and culture of Chengdu.

President Bracke said in his speech that, he had visited China for several times, which gave him different feelings every time and personal experience of the tremendous changes in China, especially the rapid changes occurred ever since China’s reform and opening-up; SCU, as one of the universities with the largest scale, the longest history and the most complete disciplines in China, has made remarkable achievements after 120 years of development, and has forged good relationships with celebrated universities in Europe, including several universities of Belgium; there are increasingly more platforms in Belgium getting involved in friendly exchanges with China in an increasingly wider ranges. He noted that his visit to China, during the 45th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Belgium, is aimed at not only having a knowledge of China's past and present, but having an insight into the future of China, especially the thoughts and ideas of its younger generations. He expressed that he was deeply impressed by two things during this visit: first, despite different political institutions and systems, both nations respect each other; second, both sides are trying to understand each other with an open attitude. Furthermore, he hoped that today’s discussion, under the principle of two-way communication, can underscore the value of and dialogue, promote cultural exchanges, and seek common ground while reserving differences on the basis of mutual respect and tolerance.

In the subsequent interaction part, Director Shi Jian of the Center for European Studies of SCU briefly introduced the basic situation of “Center for European Studies and Brussels Academy of China and European Studies” jointly established in Brussels by Sichuan University, Renmin University of China, Fudan University and Ghent University, and looked into the promising future of the study in this field. Mr. Deng Xiang, Vice Dean of the School of Economics of SCU, claimed in his speech that the economic development of Europe and Sino-EU trade and economic cooperation has remained as one of his major concerns in recent years, and he believed that there are still more sectors to be tapped for both sides, and the implementation of “Chengdu-Europe Plus” Strategy provides a broader space for Chengdu and Belgium to go deeper in cooperation and exchanges.

“Where did the EU poorly perform? What needs to be improved?”, “Is Brussels still safe after being attacked by terrorists?”, “How will Trump influence the world trade and EU’s development after coming to office?” and “How does China weigh Trump's influence on Sino-US relation, world multi-polarization, and international relations?” – centering around the above topics, President Siegfried Bracke, Ambassador Michel Malherbe and accompanying officials had a warm, friendly, in-depth and comprehensive talk with our teachers and students present.