The 2022 Meeting of the Advisory Board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (Tsinghua SEM) was held at the Diaoyutai State Guest House on the evening of December 8. It was the 23rd annual meeting of the advisory board since its establishment.

Chinese Vice President WANG Qishan met with overseas members and China's entrepreneurs on the advisory board via video link in Beijing on December 9. WANG said the 100-year struggle of the Chinese people, led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), was to realize people's aspirations for a better life and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. WANG said the 20th CPC National Congress has made strategic plans for the cause of the party and state in the coming years, and major policies will maintain a high degree of continuity, stability, and certainty. China's new development will provide new opportunities to the world. Noting how China-U.S. relations have an important impact on the world, WANG said the successful meeting between the two heads of state in Bali were a positive signal, and he urged the U.S. side to cooperate with China to implement the consensus reached by the two leaders. He said he hoped the international business community and academia will continue to expand cooperation with China and guide U.S. policymakers to view China and China-U.S. relations in an objective and rational way.

Chinese Vice President WANG Qishan meets the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management via video link in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

The advisors, led by Apple CEO Tim Cook, said they will continue to contribute to China's cooperation and exchanges with the world in such areas as trade and investment, scientific and technological innovation, talent and education, and green development.

Attendees included XIE Feng, vice foreign minister; TIAN Xuejun, vice minister of education; WANG Xiqin, president of Tsinghua University and vice chairman of the Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board; YANG Bin, vice president of Tsinghua University; QIAN Yingyi, vice chairman of Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board, senior professor of arts of Tsinghua University and the fourth dean of Tsinghua SEM; BAI Chong-En, current dean of Tsinghua SEM; CONG Zhentao, director of the Party Committee office and president's office of Tsinghua University; as well as heads of relevant departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education.

ZHU Rongji, the first dean of Tsinghua SEM, honorary chairman of the advisory board, former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and former premier of the State Council, made a statement about work related to the 2022 Meeting of Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board. ZHU congratulated the advisory board on the opening of their 23rd meeting and expressed heartfelt thanks to the members for their contributions to the development of the Tsinghua SEM. ZHU said he hoped every member could continue to use strengths to support China's economics and management education, promote mutual understanding and cooperation between China and the rest of the world, share insights on China's development, and contribute to world peace and development and the progress of human civilization. Tsinghua SEM Dean BAI Chong-En conveyed ZHU's message at the advisory board meeting on the evening of December 8.

WANG Xiqin, president of Tsinghua University, said this is the first meeting of the advisory board since the 20th CPC National Congress. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress put education, science and technology, and human resource into an overall plan for integrated development. He said to build a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, we need to coordinate the three roles or the three functions in terms of further integrating the three factors, which are science and technology as the primary productivity, talent as the primary resource, and innovation as the primary driving force. Tsinghua is actively exploring a talent cultivation model that takes root in China and integrates Chinese and foreign characteristics, strengthening team science and further promoting the integration of production, education, and scientific research. WANG said the correlation between higher education and the social-economical activities has been getting more and more tight, but the contradiction between higher education and the social-economical activities is becoming increasingly prominent, because disciplines are getting finely differentiated while social-economic problems are getting unavoidably complicated. He hoped the attending members would continue to support Tsinghua University in every respect, and offer insight on management education around the globe and valuable opinions and suggestions for the reform and development of Tsinghua and SEM.

WANG Xiqin, president of Tsinghua University, speaks at the advisory board meeting.

Tim Cook, chairman of the Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board and CEO of Apple Inc, spoke and introduced the latest updates from the current advisory board. Cook thanked the members for their efforts and contributions. He said that Tsinghua SEM has expanded its success by building more bridges, fostering more collaboration, and creating an environment where students can gain the wide-ranging skills that this moment demands. These efforts were embodied by the theme of this year's meeting: "Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration and Integration." He said he hoped board members would share more insights in discussions at the meeting.

Tim Cook, chairman of Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board and CEO of Apple, speaks at the meeting.

BAI Chong-En reported the progress of Tsinghua SEM's work in the past year to the advisory board and spoke briefly about the topic of the meeting, "Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration and Integration." The members then discussed and shared their opinions. QIAN Yingyi was entrusted by Tim Cook to preside over the meeting.

Professor BAI Chong-En speaks at the meeting.

Before the meeting, Tsinghua SEM sent the members a video of Dean BAI Chong-En who made the report on the state of the school, and an introduction video about the topics to be discussed at the meeting. The video of the report on the state of the school includes the opening of the new school buildings, students and education, teachers and researches, and cooperations with the advisory board member enterprises, etc. The video introducing the meeting topic demonstrates Tsinghua SEM's thinking and a series of measures and actions it has taken as cross-discipline integration becomes increasingly important. These include actively taking the lead in planning talent cultivation and scientific research on key cross-disciplinary issues.

The Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board holds its 2022 meeting.

A total of 36 members, including 29 abroad, attended the meeting online or in person. ZHAO Chunjun, second dean of Tsinghua SEM; Robin Li, the founder, chairman and CEO of Baidu; Pony Ma, founder, chairman and CEO of Tencent; and other Chinese members attended the meeting online. The foreign members that chose to attend via video link included Henry M. Paulson, Jr., first chairman of the advisory board (2000-2003), founder and chairman of Paulson Foundation, executive chairman of TPG Rise Climate Fund, former Secretary of the US Treasury Department, former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs; John L. Thornton, the fourth chairman of the advisory board (2010-2013), chairman of Barrick Gold Corporation, chairman of Berry Investment Inc. and honorary chairman of Brookings Institution; David M. Rubenstein, the fifth chairman of the advisory board (2013-2016), co-founder and co-chairman of Carlyle Investment; and Jim Breyer, the sixth chairman of the advisory board (2016-2019), founder and CEO of Breyer Capital. Some invited experts also attended the meeting via video link, such as LOU Jiwei, a member of the Standing Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of CPPCC National Committee, former chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund, former minister of finance, president of the Society of Public Finance of China; and LIU Mingkang, former chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). Vice President of Tsinghua University YANG Bin attended the meeting in person.

The Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board holds its 2022 meeting.

The Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board was established in October 2000 and consists of well-known business executives, business school deans, and renowned scholars from home and abroad, including Nobel laureates in economics. ZHU Rongji, first dean of Tsinghua SEM, serves as the honorary chairman of the advisory board. The mission of the board is to enhance links between Tsinghua SEM and the rest of the world, to improve teaching and research capabilities in economics and management, and to progress toward becoming a world-class school in economics and management.

Editor: REN Zhongxi