Bulletin

Issue: May 2005

News

La Trobe University and Peking University establish Joint Centre for China Studies

La Trobe University and Peking University have finalised an agreement to establish a Joint Centre for China Studies at La Trobe University’s Melbourne (Bundoora) campus.

Announcing the initiative, the Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University, Professor Michael Osborne, said: ‘This is an exciting initiative which reflects the significant activities of La Trobe University in China; it is also timely, as Australia engages more closely with China.’

‘Peking University is the premier University in China, a country which has more than 1,000 recognised universities, and it has been acknowledged in recent independent reviews as one of the world’s leading universities.’

The Joint Centre will be located in the Institute for Advanced Study of La Trobe University.

The Agreement for the Joint Centre was finalised at a meeting in Peking in March and signed on behalf of Peking University by Vice-President, Professor Hao Ping.

The President of Peking University, Professor Xu Zhihong, an Academician and world-renowned scientist, said that it was a great honour for his University to have the opportunity to work closely with La Trobe University to establish the Joint Centre. He said it was a great initiative as it was the first such Centre in Australia with which Peking University was associated.

He strongly believed the Centre would be successful in strengthening cooperation between the two universities and friendship between the People’s Republic of China and Australia. Peking University would make every effort to enable the Centre to operate effectively and efficiently.

The Vice-President of Peking University, Professor Hao Ping, also warmly praised the establishment of the Centre, observing:

‘La Trobe University already engages in a large number of teaching, research and training projects in China and has an especially close link with Peking University, notably in the areas of Economics, History, Linguistics, Archaeology and Public Health.’

Amongst current collaborative research projects a particularly significant one is that for the publication of the diplomatic archive of British relations with the Qing Dynasty. This important archive, which has been rendered fragmentary as a result of fire damage, is housed in the First Historical Archive of China in the Forbidden City in Beijing.

This project is now well under way. The first volume of texts is due to be published in both Chinese and English early in 2006, followed by four further volumes.

Additionally, a joint conference will be held in Melbourne early in 2006 to launch the first volume with contributions from senior researchers of La Trobe and Peking universities and from the First Historical Archive of China.

La Trobe University is also co-operating with Peking University in development programs in Western China. In this regard the two universities recently signed a tripartite agreement with Shi He Zhi University in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region for the development of higher education programs there, especially in the fields of Agriculture, Education and Public Health.

Quite apart from promoting these activities, the Joint Centre will facilitate the interchange of students and staff, co-ordinate teaching and training programs in China, arrange international conferences and workshops, and serve as an information and resource centre for scholars in Australia interested in China studies.

A series of public lectures by professors of the two institutions will commence later this year.

The first visitor to Australia will be Professor Wu Qiaoling, of the School of Economics at Peking University, who will deliver a number of public lectures in August 2005. Professor Osborne will deliver a series of lectures on Greek History and Archaeology at Peking University later in the year.

Professor Hao Ping and Professor Osborne will serve as foundation co-Presidents of the Joint Centre and Dr Pei Likun, currently Head of the China Office of La Trobe University, has been appointed as the Executive Director.

back contents next