On April 4th, the Sino-European Center in Finance and Economic Development (SEC) Establishment and Signing Ceremony (hereinafter referred to as the “Center”) was held at CUEB. The Center was co-founded by CUEB, National Institution for Finance & Development (NIFD) and University of Rome Tor Vergata. Scholars and experts held discussions on the significance of the Center and financial cooperation potential between China and Europe.

Before the ceremony, Feng Pei, Party Secretary of CUEB, and Fu Zhifeng, President of CUEB met with the representatives, and expressed warm welcome to all the scholars and experts.

Fu Zhifeng, Zhang Xiaojing, Vice Director of NIFD and Gustavo Piga，Vice President of University of Rome Tor Vergata announced respectively the decision of the establishment of the center. Fu Zhifeng, Zhang Ping, Vice Director of NIFD and Giovanni Tria, Dean with School of Economics of University of Rome Tor Vergata, jointly unveiled the plaque. Fu Zhifeng, Zhang Xiaojing and Giovanni Tria, on behalf of their sides, signed the cooperation agreement. Lang Lihua, Dean with School of Economics, chaired the opening and signing ceremony.

Counselor Emanuele De Maigret, Head of the Economic and Commercial Office, Embassy of Italy in China, addressed the ceremony. In his speech, he said that the establishment of the Center represented the achievements of international academic exchanges and innovation between China and Italy and even between China and Europe. The center will bring together the academic talents of China and Europe, and draw upon the experience of Sino-European development so as to contribute academic wisdom to Sino-European development. China and Europe will continue to deepen cooperation in economy, academia, science and technology, culture, education and other fields in the future.

Feng Pei said in his speech that the three sides had a solid foundation for cooperation. The establishment of SEC can create a solid partnership for development and gain complementary advantages.CUEB looks forward to taking the establishment of the center as a launching pad, further deepening the exchanges and cooperation with University of Rome Tor Vergata and NIFD. It also hopes to continuously expand the scope and scale of cooperation and achieve mutual benefit as well as common development at a higher level.

In the meeting, Prof. Zhang Liancheng, Dean of China Economy Experiment Research Institute and Prof. Giovanni Trovato of Department of Economics and Finance, introduced the history leading to the establishment of the Center. Zhang Xiaojing and other experts were also invited to give keynote speeches.