On the evening of June 17, 2022 (GMT+8), the opening ceremony for “Seminar on International Criminal Justice Cooperation for Developing Countries” and “Seminar on Engineering Management for Developing Countries” hosted by Ministry of Commerce and organized by MOFCOM Training Base for International Business Officials (Shanghai) was held online. Vice President He Ying and Professor Xu Ming from Donghua University attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

When attending a series of major multilateral events, including the 70th Anniversary Summit of the United Nations, the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Belt and Road Summit on International Cooperation, as well as bilateral high-level visits, Chinese leaders have expressed their willingness to work closely with and support developing countries to enhance mutual exchanges and cooperation in various fields, including international criminal justice cooperation and engineering management, and made commitments to the international community to provide talent training assistance in related fields. In this context, the two seminars were held as a follow-up to the national leaders’ commitments to promote exchanges between China and developing countries in the field of capacity building for officials and to promote international development cooperation.

He Ying said that China is the largest developing country in the world. Developing and solidifying cooperation with the vast number of developing countries is the basis of the Chinese government’s foreign policy. As the organizer of the seminar, our university investigated and discussed the different needs of participants in order to help them understand the cases with Chinese characteristics and the accumulated experience, develop new ideas and methods to promote international cooperation and propose suggestions for the development of professional fields according to the state of their own countries.

Xu Ming, speaking as the representative of teaching experts, said that China has a sincere desire to share its development experience and is committed to continuing to organize and arrange such seminars. As a lecturer, he enjoys the opportunity to meet and discuss with participants from all over the world.

Ms. Udesika, an official of the Sri Lanka Bribery and Corruption Investigation Commission, said in the opening ceremony that “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than when you found it.” and that the three-week course will certainly enable participants to better understand the relevant areas in China, so as to fully learn from Chinese best practices. On behalf of all the participants, she expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the program organizers and hosts for their careful preparation.

After the outbreak of COVID-19, the people of China and developing countries have been supporting and helping each other. The relationship between China and developing countries has continued to improve amid the test of COVID-19. China and the vast number of developing countries have united to help each other fight the pandemic, overcome difficulties and strive for common development. Our university held this online training for international business officials, vividly interpreting “close friends from a distant land” idiom with actions and enriched the connotation of the community of shared future for mankind.

Both workshops lasted 21 days and were attended by 93 government officials from the Criminal Justice and Engineering Management Departments of Iraq, Sri Lanka, Zambia, South Sudan, Peru, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Botswana, Mongolia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uzbekistan and other countries.

Written by: Guan Rui

Photos by: Li Zheng

Reviewed by: Chen Wei