The opening ceremony of the Italy-based school of Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) was held on June 28 in Hangzhou and in Florence, Italy. Gu Jianxin, director of the Zhejiang Foreign Affairs Office (FAO); Tang Xiaoshu, deputy director of the Education Department of Zhejiang; and Zheng Mengzhuang, president of ZJNU, cut the ribbon of the new school. Wang Wengang, consul general of China in Florence; Antonio Mazzeo, president of Toscana Region; Francesco D’Arelli, director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Shanghai, presented the event online.

Gu Jianxin, director of the Zhejiang Foreign Affairs Office; Tang Xiaoshu, deputy director of the Education Department of Zhejiang; and Zheng Mengzhuang, president of ZJNU, cut the ribbon of the new school.

A cooperation memorandum between the province of Zhejiang and the region of Tuscany was signed in 2011. For many years, both China and Italy have advanced cooperation in the fields of economics, trade, and culture. Under the framework of the cooperation between Zhejiang and Tuscany, ZJNU and the Association for Sino-Italian Cultural Exchange (ACIC) jointly established ZJNU  Florence. In the initial period, the school will primarily face Italian students and Italy-based Chinese citizens, providing them with Chinese language curricula.

Antonio Mazzeo, president of Toscana Region, delivers a speech.

Antonio Mazzeo, president of Toscana Region, gave a speech, cutting the ribbon of the new school and congratulating ZJNU on founding the school.

The establishment of ZJNU Florence is of great significance to Tuscany. The school can not only provide important learning opportunities for local Chinese, but also open a window for more people to understand China. This act of cooperation will bring about mutual benefit, and it is believed that it will create more opportunities for China and Italy in education cooperation, cultural exchanges, and economic and trade exchanges.

Gu Jianxin, director of the Zhejiang Foreign Affairs Office, delivers a speech.

Gu Jianxin, director of the Zhejiang FAO, pointed out in his speech that as the frontier of China’s opening up and an important hub of the Belt and Road Initiative, Zhejiang plays the multifaceted role of participant, witness, contributor, and beneficiary of the stable and durable development of Sino-Italian relations. The establishment of the school shows progress in the cooperation between China and Italy in the field of education, and it is also another new achievement of the friendly and practical cooperation between Zhejiang and Tuscany. It is hoped that both will take the establishment of the school as a new opportunity to deepen their friendship, promote cultural exchanges, and expand the potential for cooperation in new fields such as biomedicine, scientific and technological innovation, and green development.

Wang Wengang, consul general of China in Florence, gives a speech.

Wang Wengang, consul general of China in Florence, said that the current high-level development of Sino-Italian relations coincides with the resumption of the China-Italy Year of Culture and Tourism. There are broad prospects for cooperation between the two countries, and areas such as education and talent exchanges are presenting new development opportunities. It is hoped that both parties will take the cooperative establishment of the school as an opportunity to tell to an increasingly wide audience the Chinese story and strengthen practical cooperation in education so as to contribute to accelerating the construction of a high-level talent highland and promoting the high-quality development of the Sino-Italian realization of the Belt and Road Initiative. (Source: Zhejiang Foreign Affairs; translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Mariam Ayad)