FIR and SDUFE Joint Conference: 4th China-CEE Economic Forum

On 15th November 2018, the University of Economics, Prague, held the 4th Joint Conference of the Faculty of International Relations (FIR), the Center for Asian Studies and the Shandong University of Finance and Economics (SDUFE, Jinan, China). See detailed programme HERE.

The opening remarks were delivered by the Vice-Dean for International Relations and Public Relations, Mr. Ing. Radek Čajka, Ph.D., the head of the Center for Asian Studies, Ms. doc. Ing. Zuzana Stuchlíková, Ph.D., and professor Chuanrong Wang from SDUFE.

During three conference panels, several topics related to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and trade between the People’s Republic of China and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) were presented. The first block of lectures was introduced by Ning Zhou (SDUFE) with her paper on trade with agricultural products between China and CCE region, and by Jeremy Garlick, M.A., Ph.D. (Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies, FIR) with presentation on the EU countries´ stance on Chinese investments and economic cooperation with the PRC.

In the second panel, Ms. PhDr. Ing. Radka Havlová, Ph.D. (Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies, FIR), whose research activities have been devoted to relationship between Asia and the Middle East, contributed with her paper on economic, political and cultural relationship between China and Qatar. Other papers were presented by Master degree students, Yakun Tao (SDUFE) and Shan Jiang (SDUFE). Yakun Tao spoke on the topic of effectivity and impacts of the BRI on hi-tech production in provinces of China. Shan Jiang dealt with export of Chinese culture against the backdrop of the BRI.

The last section was concluded by postgraduate students from the Department of World Economy (FIR): Ing. Ondřej Sankot, Ing. Dominik Proch and Ing. Lenka Tomečková. Ondřej Sankot dealt with economic relations of Central Asia with the PRC, while Ms. Tomečková´s contribution was devoted to relations between China, Saudi Arabia and Iran, with an emphasis on geopolitics, position on the international scene and bilateral agreements. Dominik Proch spoke on the topic of similarities and differences between Chinese and Indian balance of payments. The panel was concluded by Ms.  Li Wang (SDUFE) with her presentation on the role of e-commerce in relations between PRC-CEE.

FIR and SDUFE, which belongs to our partner universities, have been developing cooperation since 2009. This includes regular exchange of students and mobility of academic staff. Joint workshops and conferences are being organised on the basis of an agreement for research cooperation concluded in 2014. The third forum was held in 2017 in Jinan, China.

SDUFE came into existence in 2011 by merger of two universities: Shandong Economic University (established in 1952 as one of the first universities for economics in the province) and Shandong University of Finance (1986). Currently, SDUFE offers 62 study programmes, which include 33 thousands of students. Apart from standard economic programmes, SDUFE provides also law and pedagogy degrees.

Authors: Andrea Mudrová, Zuzana Stuchlíková (CAS, FIR)

Photo: Graphics and Multimedia Laboratory (University of Economics)