Exchange agreement signed

Guijun Lin, vice president (academic and international) of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and Alan Shaver, vice president academic and provost at Dalhousie University signed an academic exchange agreement between the two universities. Also in photo are: Yasheng Zou, deputy dean, UIBE's School of Banking and Finance; Ying Ge, deputy dean, UIBE's School of International Trade and Economics; Zhuguo Li, dean, UIBE's School of Management; Changzheng Dai, dean, UIBE's School of Arts and Humanities; Teresa Cyrus, associate professor of economics; Lars Osberg, University Research Professor; Patrick Ryall, associate dean of science; Kristen Healy, study abroad and exchange advisor; Mel Cross, associate professor of economics; Talan Iscan, professor of economics; and Barry Lesser, professor of economics. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Two Chinese students from Beijing will be the first to take advantage of a new exchange agreement University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and the Department of Economics at Dalhousie University.

Officials from both universities participated in a signing ceremony on Monday, June 2.

Economics professor Barry Lesser said participating Dalhousie students stand to reap huge benefits from the exchange; they’ll get a chance to observe China’s emerging economy first-hand, while experiencing a way of life and a culture much different from their own. And language won’t be a limiting factor: UIBE offers undergraduate and graduate-level classes in English.

“There are few Chinese universities that we know of that offer courses in English,” says Dr. Lesser. “So this really opens up opportunities for students with language posing less of a barrier.”

Officials with the Chinese university enjoyed walking around campus and meeting the Dalhousie economics professors. They will be traveling throughout Canada exploring similar agreements with Carleton University in Ottawa, University of Toronto, McMaster University in Hamilton and University of Victoria.

“It is very green here and our students will find a lot of difference,” says Guijun Lin, vice president (academic and international) of UIBE. “We have realized it is very important for our students to have global experience before they seek employment … we’re hard at work developing various initiatives for our students so they can become better global citizens.”

Founded in 1951, UIBE is one of the first universities in China to initiate academic exchanges with foreign academic institutions. Currently, it has exchange programs with more than 100 universities in 30 countries. Dr. Lin says they are proud of their cosmopolitan campus in China’s capital city; close to 20 per cent of the university’s 20,000 students come from outside the country. “This creates an interesting, diversified campus for our students,” he says.

Dalhousie’s Department of Economics also offers an exchange program with Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since the program was initiated in 1998, only a handful of Dal students have been able to take advantage because they must be fluent in Spanish. The exchange program is coordinated by Prof. Talan Iscan.