On the evening of June 26th 2017, the second “South-South Education Program for Economics and Finance” held a Welcome Dinner in Wenjin Hotel, Beijing. Madam Wu Xiaoling, Dean of PBC School of Finance Tsinghua University (PBCSF), attended the event and addressed to the program participants from 24 developing countries. Mr. Zhang Zhiping, Executive President of Finance Center for South-South Cooperation (FCSSC) and Vice President of South South Education Foundation (SSEF), Mr. Xu Junhua, Chairman of Hongru Financial Education Foundation, Madam Li Xiulan, Secretary-General of Hongru Financial Education Foundation, and Mr. Wang Renguo, Chairman of the Board of China Taihe Group, also attended the event.

“We are all South-South countries and are facing social and economic development challenges. I sincerely hope this program can provide you a platform for candid communication and ideas exchange,” said Madam Wu. She further shared four points of China’s development experience with the participants, in response to their curiosity of China’s way from poverty to prosperity. The first was making use of openness to support reform. Madam Wu described the rise of Shenzhen and the importance of openness to facilitate reform and development. The second was dealing with the relationship between the market and government. The third was dealing with the relationship between reform and development. And the last was paying attention to the work of finance and the development of inclusive finance. “Every country can find its own way of development, and I hope the participants can help each other to promote common development in various forms after the one-week study and visits,” said Madam Wu as a wish to all the participants. 

Mr. Zhang Zhiping, who is the Executive President of FCSSC, Vice President of SSEF, Executive Vice Chairman of Hongru Financial Education Foundation, and also the President of PBCSF Alumni Association, said that he played a special role in the launch of the “South-South Education Program for Economics and Finance”, since he had links with each organizer and sponsor of the program. Mr. Zhang expressed with gratitude that the program had gained satisfiable progress, and he hoped to see participants have a better understanding of South-South cooperation, “Belt-and-Road” Initiative and China’s development experience after the one-week training.

During the dinner, several alumni from PBCSF, who were entrepreneurs in industries like internet finance, telecommunication and energy, talked with program participants on topics ranging from current global economic situation, China’s development experience to the development potential of the Global South and investment opportunities. The “South-South Education Program for Economics and Finance” will continue to be practical and facilitate mutual trust, so as to build the civil bridge for cultural exchange and vision sharing between China and South-South countries.