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Two Weeks and 3,200 Miles Across China

By Robert H. Bruininks, President of the University of Minnesota
Written for the University of Minnesota China Center Newsletter, January 2005

The humorist Will Rogers once said that the last person who really “knew China” was Confucius, and that “even he died feeling that he was becoming a little confused.” Our delegation had a whirlwind two-week visit to China this past October, and although that was far too short a time to get to know this expansive country, we all left impressed by the energy and ambition of the educators, students, and entrepreneurs we met.

As friends of the China Center know, the University of Minnesota has a special relationship with China. I was particularly gratified when one US diplomat told us that he and his colleagues look to the University of Minnesota as a leader in building academic relationships with Chinese institutions. Since our first Chinese student was admitted nearly a century ago, the U has produced more than estimated 8,000 Chinese alumni, and today more Chinese students attend the U’s Twin Cities campus than any other US campus. Like previous presidential visits, our delegation went to China to strengthen ties with alumni, foster existing academic exchange programs, and pursue new opportunities for partnership. From Taiwan to Hong Kong to Guangzhou to Shanghai to Chengdu to Beijing, we could see tremendous changes taking place, but the transformation occurring in higher education may well represent the largest investment in higher education the world has seen since the Morrill Act or the GI Bill.

In a meeting with our delegation, Education Minister Zhou Ji outlined two nationwide initiatives, one to propel nine of China’s universities into the ranks of the world’s best research institutions within the next two decades, and another complementary strategy to bolster 100 other Chinese universities. Minister Zhou told us that in the eyes of Chinese government leaders, “investment in education is essential and the primary strategy for reducing dependency and increasing the country’s competitive standing in the world economy.”

The proof of this commitment is in the numbers—in 1990, there were 1.1 million college freshman in China; today there are 4.3 million—but also in recently built and planned facilities. At Sichuan University in Chengdu, our delegation was amazed at a brand new campus that housed 22,000 freshmen and sophomores. In just two years they created a campus unlike anything I’ve ever seen – beautifully designed buildings, well-tended green spaces, generous recreational facilities and a layout designed to enable the most efficient education. At Fudan University in Shanghai, President Wang Shenghong also proudly showed off scale models of his rapidly expanding institution, which included a new campus to be built on land donated by the Shanghai municipal government as well as a major new facility to house international students.

At Sun Ya-tsen University in Guangzhou, where I had a chance to meet with the enthusiastic student and faculty leaders at the Carlson School’s Executive MBA Program, and in two open lectures I gave at Sichuan University and Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, I witnessed the human spark of Chinese education today. In these open lectures, I was absolutely flattered and surprised when hundreds of students packed into lecture halls to listen to my thoughts—without a translator—and even laugh at some of my lamer jokes! Their questions to me were incisive and probing, and although several raised the perceived difficulty of obtaining a US visa under our country’s post-9/11 regulations, it was clear that many were extremely interested in studying in the United States.

Another highlight for the delegation was the signing of an agreement with the China University of Political Science and Law and the Beijing Fazheng Group to create the University’s second degree program in China—an LL.M. degree that will be offered in Beijing by the U’s Law School. At the same ceremony, which was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, we signed an agreement with the Beijing municipal government to facilitate training for its employees, and we honored Prof. Jiang Zhenghua with an honorary Doctorate. (That busy agenda was representative of the packed schedule that the hard working people of the China Center created for us!)

The University’s relationship with China is strong and mutually beneficial and was repeatedly recognized, especially by our highly accomplished Chinese alumni. But the Chinese also have a high regard for academic reputation and quality, which means that further relations with Chinese universities depend on protecting the strength of the University of Minnesota. As independent civic organizations like the Citizens League and the Itasca Group have recently pointed out, keeping the University of Minnesota a world class institution is critical to the future of our region—its economy and its culture. As we learned in China, it’s also key to the ties that the University and the state of Minnesota can maintain with the world’s largest country and its fastest growing economy.

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