President Chen Jun and Matan Vilnai, ambassador of the State of Israel to China, reached agreement on the Israeli support for Nanjing University to establish an Israel-China Institute of Jewish Studies during the visit of the ambassador and his entourage to the university in the morning of December 14, 2016.

The two sides discussed the strengthening of cooperation between the university and Israel’s higher education institutions and reached the agreement on the Jewish studies institute.

President Chen extended a warm welcome to the ambassador and briefed the visitors on the history of the university since its founding in 1902, highlighting the fact that it was the first university in China to have a center for Jewish culture studies with a qualified research team.

Nanjing University proposed the establishment of the Israel-China Institute of Jewish Studies at the Inaugural forum of Presidents of Israel-China Higher Education Institutions, held in Jerusalem on March 28, 2016.

Chen said that this proposal was agreed upon by higher education institutions of both sides and that he hoped that the ambassador will extend more support for this initiative.

Ambassador Vilnai recognized the achievements made by Nanjing University in the Jewish and Israeli studies and promised to promote the development of the institute by coordinating Israel’s resources.

After this meeting, the ambassador delivered a speech titled “Israel: An Innovative Country” at the Auditorium of Nanjing University Youth Hall and then had a discussion with students on such topics as the nurturing of innovation and China-Israel relations.

Source: Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges