On the afternoon of Tuesday, November 12, USP and Beijing Normal University signed a Memorandum of Understanding renewing the partnership between the two institutions, intending to promote the exchange of students and researchers, organize academic and cultural activities, develop joint research and deepen knowledge of the economic, cultural and social contexts of the two countries.
“Brazil and China have a lot in common. Both countries have a continental territory, with huge populations and a great responsibility towards the world on issues such as food production and energy transition. That’s why there are countless possibilities for partnerships in all areas,” said president Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior.
Carlotti pointed out that the university recently created the USP-China Center, whichshould work to intensify the exchange of students and researchers and then develop joint research projects. “I think the relationship between Brazil and China could be much greater than it is today. With this center, we intend not only to make our universities have a more intense relationship but also to have relations with the Ministry of Culture and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.”
The signing took place during the Looking China Light and Shadow Storytelling event, which presented the videos produced by students from USP’s School of Communications and Arts (ECA) who took part in Beijing Normal University’s Looking China 2024 project.
“I hope that as well as being an academic agreement, this partnership will also be a symbol of friendship between the two countries. Looking China gives each participating student an insight into the changes that are taking place in China and also allows them to make friends with Chinese youngsters. It is in this friendship that we can see the future of relations between our countries,” said the vice-provost of Beijing Normal University, Kang Zhen.
For the director of the USP-China Center, Ricardo Trindade, “the Looking China event represents integration through culture and experience, which the USP-China Center’s mission is to encourage. Much more than a physical space, the Center is a space for collaboration in different areas of knowledge.”
After the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding, the eight short films produced by Brazilian students in China as part of the Looking China 2024 project were presented.
The ceremony was attended by the provost of Undergraduate Studies, Aluisio Segurado; the deputy director of the USP-China Center; the director of ECA, Brasilina Passarelli; the head of the Department of Film, Radio and Television at ECA, Rubens Rewald; as well as representatives from Beijing Normal University, the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture, and the Chinese Consulate in São Paulo.
Looking China
The Looking China project is an initiative of the Academy of International Communication of Chinese Culture (AICCC), headquartered at Beijing Normal University, which invites around 100 film students from around the world to visit China every year.
Each student directs a 10-minute documentary, in partnership with a Chinese student-producer, under the supervision of a foreign teacher, in different provinces. The idea is to promote exchange, communication and intercultural cooperation between different countries and China.
ECA’s Department of Film, Radio and Television has been a partner of the initiative since 2016 and has already sent 25 students to the Asian country.
“Throughout this journey, we have been deeply touched not only by China’s stunning landscapes but also by the warmth, resilience, and strength of its people. Their dedication, creativity, and community spirit inspire us to believe in a better future,” said Cecília Mello, coordinator of the Looking China project at USP and a professor at ECA.
Cecília revealed that, on the occasion of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Brazil and China, some of the project’s participants sent a letter thanking the president of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping. In response, the president sent a message in which he reinforced the ties that bind the two countries and his wish that “people from all walks of life play an active role in promoting the continued development of relations between China and Brazil and make our friendship as strong as the Yangtze River and the Amazon River”.
USP-China Center
Directly related to the President’s Office, the USP-China Center aims to centralize collaborative actions between the University and different Chinese institutions and is the result of the first visit by a USP president to China, which took place in November 2023. This trip represented an important milestone in academic relations between the two countries, which will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic collaboration in 2024.
Based on previous collaborative experiences and discussions with Chinese partners during the USP delegation’s visit to Beijing and Shanghai, four thematic axes were defined for the center’s activities: Agricultural sciences; Geosciences and the environment; Health sciences; and Languages, cinema, design, and architecture.
The themes of sustainability, big data, and artificial intelligence will cut across all the axes, basing joint activities on coordinated actions involving transdisciplinary teams from different USP units and Chinese institutions.
The center, which is housed in the Center for International Diffusion (CDI) building on the USP campus in São Paulo, is coordinated by Ricardo Trindade, a professor at the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences, and has Thais Vieira as its vice-coordinator, the director of Luiz de Queiroz Higher Education School of Agriculture (Esalq).
English version: Nexus Traduções
