President Xia of China’s Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE) visited the Tokyo Kioicho Campus on October 15, 2015. Joining him were Director Zhang Juntao of Academic Affairs, Director Zhang Yuci of the International Exchange Center, and Professor Fang Aixiang.

DUFE was founded in 1952 in China’s Liaoning Province, in the city of Dalian. It is a public university focused on financial affairs and economics. The university has about 19,000 students enrolled in twenty-five different schools and departments, including its School of Public Finance & Taxation, School of Finance, School of Economics, School of Accounting, Law School, School of Tourism & Hotel Management, School of International Economics & Trade, and School of International Business. The university also accepts hundreds of study abroad students from countries around the world.

Josai University was first introduced to DUFE through Tianjin Foreign Studies University’s President Xiu Gang. Inspired by the meeting, the universities entered a mutual arrangement on June 2, 2015. Now, the two are planning to build a partnership through an exchange of faculty members and students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. During the talks on October 15, it was indicated that already two new students are hoping to attend Josai University in the coming year.

At the meeting, Chancellor Noriko Mizuta expressed her hopes, stating, “We would like to expand our partnership with Dongbei University of Finance and Economics through interdisciplinary joint education and research programs, from fields like business administration and medical welfare, to environmental studies, nursing, and beyond. We look forward to working with you.” President Xia responded in kind. “Our university only just began this agreement with Josai University in June of this year, but actually I feel as though we have already been working together closely for a long time, especially with your preexisting ties with Former Mayor Xia Deren of Dalian and Professor Chen Yan from Dalian University of Foreign Languages. I am so pleased that I was able to visit your university this time. As the next step, we hope to move forward with the exchange of our faculty members and also to further exchange among our graduate schools as well as our undergraduate departments,” he said, offering his own hopes.

More concrete exchange is expected between these universities from here on out.