On the morning of June 26, Marcelo Brito Carneiro Leão, the President of Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) in Brazil, visited our school. The guest was warmly received by our Vice President Chen Jianfeng at Fengpu Campus, accompanied by relevant teachers from the Office of International Exchange, the Faculty of International Education, the College of Hospitality Management, the Faculty of Business Administration, and the Faculty of Art and Design.

At the meeting, Vice President Chen delivered a speech on behalf of our school, warmly welcoming UFRPE President Marcelo, and gave an introduction about the development course, specialty distribution, and school-running features of our school. He stated that, relying on the profound friendship established between China and Brazil, the two sides would have a promising prospect of cooperation and an extensive cooperation space in terms of teacher-student exchanges, cooperative teaching, and scientific research.

President Marcelo introduced the history, enrolment, and agriculture-related research fields of UFRPE, mentioning that UFRPE had always attached great importance to innovation, entrepreneurship, and internationalization. He stressed the great necessity of deepening the mutual understanding between the teachers and students of the two schools in scientific research and culture, and expressed his hope that this exchange would further the cooperation between the two sides in talent training, scientific research, etc.

Following them, Liu Bin, the Director of the Office of International Exchange, introduced the research status and achievements of our school in the fields of circulation efficiency of agricultural products, monitoring and forecasting of agricultural product prices, policies and standards on food safety management, and cold chain logistics system of agricultural products. Ye Long, the Director of the Computer Department of the Faculty of Business Information; Huang Yue, the Department Head of the College of Hospitality Management; Song Ting, the Director of the Landscape Architecture Department of the Faculty of Art and Design, shared their specialty features and related research reflections. The two sides engaged in preliminary discussions on the possibilities of future cooperative research in agricultural economy and management, the application of agricultural digital technology, etc.

After the meeting, in the company of Dai Ying, President Marcelo visited our tea room, coffee room, mock court, Apple computer room, and other practical training and teaching places, and took part in imitation practice with great interest. He highly praised our well-equipped training and learning environment and advanced teaching hardware.

At noon, President Wu Zhong received President Marcelo, extending a warm welcome to him. After giving a brief introduction on our school and the Chinese higher education system to our guest, President Wu Zhong suggested that the exchange and cooperation between the two schools be strengthened in terms of student exchanges, teacher visits, etc. He also expressed his wish that President Marcelo would actively promote Chinese culture and Shanghai Business School after returning home. At the end of the meeting, President Wu Zhong presented President Marcelo with a white magnolia glass cup designed by the teacher from our Faculty of Art and Design.

In the afternoon, Vice President Chen Jianfeng accompanied President Marcelo in visiting the Xinghui Vegetable Base of Bright Food (Group) Co., Ltd. They were warmly received by Chairman Li Yumin of the Group. The team visited the soil-less cultivation factory and seedling workshop at the base. Principal Marcelo highly praised the standardized, mechanized, industrialized, and intelligent vegetable production processes of the base, and gained a deep understanding of the application of agricultural scientific and technological innovation in Shanghai.

Relying on the connections of trainees, the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO), MOFCOM has built a cooperation platform for colleges and universities in countries along the “Belt and Road”, and expanded the “circle of friends” of our school in the international community. The success of the visit of UFRPE President was inseparable from the role played by the base in facilitating the event and making contacts. From August 4 to August 17, 2022, the Local Development Planning Seminar for Officials in Recife, Brazil, sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China and undertaken by the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO), MOFCOM, was successfully held online. Professor Francisco Luiz dos Santos of UFRPE attended the training. At the end of the training, our school established contact with UFRPE in the coordination of Professor Francisco. After online communications, we reached a consensus and signed a memorandum of understanding. The visit by President Marcelo testified to the spillover effect of the base on the international exchanges and discipline construction of our school. More and more colleges and universities in countries along the “Belt and Road” have begun to pay attention to Shanghai Business School. This “base spillover effect” will certainly provide a new drive for our school.

Contribution: Liu Bin, Zeng Na, Guan Rui

Photography: Zeng Na, Guan Rui

Review: Liu Bin