Capital University of Economics and Business and Cleveland State University signed an agreement to co-establish a Confucius Institute (“Institute”) On August 28th, 2008. The Institute officially opened its doors on October 26th, 2009. At present, there are 13 instructors responsible for 33 classes with over 700 students. The Institute also provides Chinese courses as subsidiary courses at Cleveland State University.

CUEB and the Confucius Institute are now advancing the cooperation between CUEB and Cleveland State University. For now, the two parties are working together on multiple projects, including collaborative research, as well as teacher and student exchanges. The Confucius Institute offers regular lectures on Chinese culture and economy, and organizes over 20 activities on Chinese traditional holiday celebrations and other aspects of Chinese culture every year.

In 2013 the two sides deepened their level of cooperation by conducting a series of academic exchange activities. The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between CUEB and Cleveland State University, project agreement on education and teaching (mainly for teacher exchange projects and short and long term students exchange projects), and a cooperative research agreement on American Megacities Problems and Solutions, which marks a new stage of all round cooperation between CUEB and Cleveland State University. Through two years of exchange visits, in-depth and multi-level cooperation between CUEB and Cleveland State University has been successful. The original exchange programs that began when the Institute was established have grown to include exchange of both teachers and students in corresponding disciplines, and collaborative research in special fields. The School of Law, School of Finance, College of Culture and Communication, School of Cities and Megacities have all explored cooperation with the corresponding schools and colleges at Cleveland State University.

A delegation from Cleveland State University visited CUEB at the end of October in 2013. The two parties held in-depth discussions on the 4 year dual undergraduate and law degree program, to be run jointly by the law programs of both universities. The school of finance exchanged views on carrying out student exchange programs with the delegation. When talking with the college of culture and communication, the delegation followed up on the Ohio Teachers Licensing program for students majoring in Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language, so students can study at Cleveland State University for a Master of Education and receive an Ohio teacher’s license. The Megacities Economic and Social Development Research Institute of CUEB and the American Business School took full advantage of the unique advantages of CUEB and Cleveland State University (Cleveland State University’s major in urban policy and management is ranked 2nd in the US, and the CUEB Megacities Social and Economic Research Institute is a unique and innovative program in Beijing that has operated since 2011), and conducted research on solutions to the development problems of Chinese megacities. This has brought one of CUEB’s most exceptional program’s international exchanges to a higher level, and provided a better platform and foundation for CUEB to serve the economic and social development of the capital. At the same time, with the support of China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, CUEB and Cleveland State University have already reached an agreement on holding a high level economic forum at the Confucius Institute, and the preparatory work is now in progress.

According to the plans of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, CUEB has assigned several teachers to the Confucius Institute at Cleveland State University to teach Chinese. In 2013, CUEB encouraged juniors and seniors, as well as master’s students and teachers to sign up for teaching Chinese programs at the Confucius Institute. After a rigorous selection process, 6 students were reported to the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language as volunteer candidates. In 2015, the School of Urban Economics and Public Administration will send one undergraduate student to study at Cleveland State University. With the support of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, CUEB will enroll 6 students from Cleveland State University and other universities awarded a scholarship from the Confucius Institute to study for one year. In 2014 and 2015, through the Confucius Institute, Cleveland State University sent a student group financially supported by the Confucius Institute to CUEB to attend business courses for 4 weeks, which contributed a greatly to improving the cultural communication between China and the United States, and also promoted the substantive communication between CUEB and Cleveland State University.