The Centre was jointly established by the three universities as a resource centre for China studies for academics, students, and the public, to engage in and promote joint research programs related to China, and to promote Chinese language and culture in Australia.
Located at La Trobe’s Institute for Advanced Studies, Bundoora, the joint Centre was formally opened by the leaders of the three Universities –La Trobe University’s Acting Vice Chancellor Roger Parish, Peking University’s President Professor Xu Zhihong, and the President of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, Professor Hao Ping.
La Trobe’s Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Roger Parish said La Trobe University had developed significant academic links with China over the past fifteen years, resulting in active programs of cooperation at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.
“The Centre provides a unique opportunity for us to expand our collaboration with two of China’s leading Universities, and will play an important role strengthening links between China and Australia,” Professor Parish said.
The Centre’s raison d’etre was aptly illustrated on the same occasion with the launch of two historically significant volumes of documents jointly edited by the Centre and the First Historical Archives of China in the series The Diplomatic Relations Between China And Foreign Countries In The Qing Dynasty – Correspondence Between China And Great Britain. (See Joint Centre for China Studies Opens New Window to Sino-British Scholars.)
Monday, 2 April 2007 First joint Centre for China Studies to strengthen Australia-China linksLa Trobe University and its associate institutions in China - Peking University and the Beijing Foreign Studies University - formally opened the first joint Centre for China Studies in Australia at an official ceremony at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus in Melbourne on Friday, 30 March.Inquiries: Professor Likun Pei, Executive Director, Centre for China Studies, La Trobe University Tel: +61 3 94796504 Fax: +61 3 94793970 Email: l.pei@latrobe.edu.au