On April 24, the launch ceremony of cooperative education between the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS) Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics (ZUFE), together with the unveiling ceremony of the Zhejiang Research Institute, was held at ZUFE. Present here were Guoxian Zhu, member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and minister of the Publicity Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee, Peiyong Gao, vice president of CASS, member academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and vice chairman of Sun Yefang Economic Science Foundation, Fulin Chi, dean of China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute, Zhengwen Zhang, president of UCASS, Shihao Sheng, deputy minister of the Publicity Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee and chairman of the Zhejiang Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences Circles (ZJFHSSC), Genfang Chen, secretary of the Party Committee and director of the Department of Education of Zhejiang Province, Huawei Guo, secretary of the Party group of ZJFHSSC and vice chairman of ZJFHSSC, Bin Zhang, vice president of UCASS, Xianhai Huang, vice president of Zhejiang University, Jinchang Li, secretary of the Party Committee of ZUFE, and other scholars. The president of ZUFE, Xiaomin Zhong, presided over the two ceremonies. More than 600 people participated in the events, including experts and scholars from inside and outside the province, all members of ZUFE's leadership team, and representatives of teachers and students.
Mr. Zhu, Mr. Gao, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Sheng, Mr. Chen, and Mr. Li jointly unveiled the "ZUFE-UCASS Zhejiang Research Institute" (hereinafter referred to as Zhejiang Research Institute).
Mr. Zhu said that Zhejiang was embarking on the loyal practice of the "Eight-Eight Strategy" and striving to create an "important window," and has begun a new journey to build a leading province for socialist modernization, which urgently requires professionals in the circle of social science theorists to contribute their wisdom and strength. He also hoped that CASS would enhance its cooperation with Zhejiang Province, care about and support Zhejiang, further expanding the fields of cooperation and making this cooperation more meaningful. They would jointly build Zhejiang Research Institute into a high point for training talents, which would be deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Zhejiang and of China, and also into a plateau for discipline innovations and think-tank services. And he also expected that ZUFE would focus on the goal of building a world-class university of finance and economics, adhere to the fundamental task of cultivating people through moral education, and guide young students to develop great ambitions, realize great virtues, become great talents, and assume great responsibilities, so as to make more contributions to the development of philosophy and social sciences in Zhejiang Province and to set forth good suggestions for the high-quality development of Zhejiang, training outstanding talents for Zhejiang's modernization drive.
Mr. Gao expressed his congratulations to the two universities' cooperation in running schools and the unveiling of Zhejiang Research Institute. He said that important subjects related to the construction of three major systems of China's social sciences were taking root in Zhejiang, studying Zhejiang, understanding Zhejiang, and taking Zhejiang as a sample to conduct in-depth research on major theories and practical issues of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The cooperation between CASS and Zhejiang Province shared a long history. The unveiling ceremony marked the cooperative education between two universities entering the stage of official implementation. The two sides would carry out in-depth cooperation in postgraduate programs, scientific research, curriculum construction, think-tank services, etc., so as to expand new areas for the academy-province cooperation and add new contents. He hoped that the two universities would initiate solid cooperation in various fields, strive to produce high-quality and high-level results, create a model of academy-province cooperation, become a benchmark for inter-university cooperation, and build Zhejiang Research Institute into fertile soil for talent training in Zhejiang and in China, a high point for the innovation of disciplines and think-tank services, to make greater contributions to local social and economic development, the prosperity of philosophy and social sciences, as well as the promotion of high-quality development of higher education.
Mr. Zhang said that taking root in this fertile soil of Zhejiang and learning from Zhejiang's development experience were extremely important for the construction and development of UCASS. ZUFE is a key university in Zhejiang Province with distinctive disciplinary characteristics, boasting a prime location and a solid foundation for running schools, as well as tremendous development potential. Based on the principles of "mutual consultation, co-construction, sharing, and win-win benefits," the two sides have started to work together in education, teaching, advanced research, and other aspects for a brighter future. He said that he would work with ZUFE to be equipped with a strong and full-fledged work team, establish a sound cooperation mechanism, highlight the main direction, build platforms and utilize resources, cultivate and produce a large number of major achievements, and jointly serve the local economic and social development of Zhejiang and this country. We will work hard to promote economic and social development, advance the construction of "three major systems" of China's philosophy and social sciences, and implement the fundamental task of fostering people through moral education in higher learning.
Mr. Li introduced ZUFE's achievements in the talent training system, the transformation of scientific research results, social services, and other aspects. He said that the cooperation between the two universities was a concrete practice for in-depth implementation of the strategy of making Zhejiang Province strong through higher education. It was also a positive exploration of innovating the mode of running schools and promoting the high-quality and organic growth of this university. It was of great significance for the university to deepen the construction of new liberal arts, enhance abilities in research and social services, and build an innovation demonstration base for the disciplines of Economics and Management, as well as a first-class university of finance and economics with distinctive features. ZUFE would further integrate high-quality resources, optimize systems and mechanisms, fully support and protect the cooperation between the two universities, and make every effort to run the Zhejiang Research Institute, striving to build the Zhejiang Research Institute into a high point for talent training, disciplinary innovations, and think-tank services, which was deeply rooted in the fertile land of Zhejiang Province and further of China.
The launch ceremony of the cooperative education between UCASS (Graduate School of CASS) and ZUFE and the unveiling ceremony of the Zhejiang Research Institute marked the beginning of the two universities’ substantive cooperation in running schools. The first batch of 80 postgraduates from ZUFE was enrolled and five PhD students were currently being enrolled; some students from UCASS would also be admitted into this Institute. The work related to scientific research and think-tank services would also be carried out in the near future.
