On the afternoon of October 24, 2014, ZHU Rongji, Founding Dean and Honorary Chairman of the Advisory Board of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (Tsinghua SEM), his wife LAO An, and LIU Yandong, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Vice Premier of China’s State Council, met with Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board members at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

Among the members who attended the meeting, 21 of whom are overseas members of the Board, including Mr. David M. Rubenstein, the Chairman of the Board and Co-founder and Co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, and Maurice R. Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. and Former Chairman and CEO of American International Group, and the Chinese members of the Board including ZHOU Xiaochuan, CHEN Yuan, LOU Jiwei, LIU He, LI Rongrong, LIU Mingkang, GU Binglin, WANG Dazhong, ZHAO Chunjun and Jack Ma. YUAN Guiren, Minister of Education, CHEN Jining, President of Tsinghua University and Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board, CHEN Xu, Party Secretary of Tsinghua University and QIAN Yingyi, Dean of Tsinghua SEM were also present at the meeting.

ZHU Rongji and LIU Yandong met with Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board members

This year’s Advisory Board Meeting is the 15th annual meeting since the inception of the Board in 2000. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of Tsinghua SEM. Advisory Board members have played an important role in Tsinghua SEM’s rapid development and globalization. In the meeting that lasted for more than an hour, ZHU Rongji listened carefully to the remarks made by the Board members. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, expressed his deep impression with Dean QIAN’s leadership and affirmed the importance of school’s leaders to the development of the School. He considered Tsinghua SEM as one of the best schools in the world. Mike McNamara, CEO of Flextronics, lauded the development of Tsinghua x-lab, calling on Board members to provide more funding and resources to support the growth of Tsinghua x-lab and the entrepreneurial Tsinghua students. Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba, expressed that he is deeply honored to be a member of the Advisory board and said, “Being a Board member is not only to help young people, but also a huge learning opportunity for me.” YUAN Guiren, Minister of Education, mentioned that the Ministry attaches great importance to some of the practices of Tsinghua SEM; many the reforms in Tsinghua University were first implemented at Tsinghua SEM, including reforms in faculty personnel administration system, educational programs and pedagogy, and student internships. He remarked that the Ministry is considering to promote such reforms as Tsinghua University’s experience and to encourage similar reforms nationwide. Vice Premier LIU Yandong remarked by pointing out that apart from playing a role in the reforms to develop Tsinghua University, the Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board and Tsinghua SEM also played a significant role in promoting the progress of China’s education. Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board will have deep and significant impacts on China’s education, its younger generation and the relationship between China and the World.

Group photo

As the meeting drew to a close, Tsinghua SEM’s Founding Dean and Honorary Chairman ZHU Rongji made his remarks, affirming Tsinghua SEM’s development and achievements in recent years, and said, “I am very proud of such a great success achieved by Tsinghua SEM and its Advisory Board.” He thanked the Board members and the School’s leadership for their contributions to the development of the School, and encouraged them to continue in their efforts to develop Tsinghua University.

Prior to the meeting, WANG Qishan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC, met with the overseas members of the Board. WANG Qishan, ZHU Rongji, LIU Yandong and others also had a group photograph taken with the Board members attending the 2014 Advisory Board Meeting of Tsinghua SEM.