On June 10, Wang Shiting, secretary of the CPC Committee of the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) and secretary-general of the Research Center on Building a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity, led a delegation to the University of Vienna and the Vienna School of International Studies, in Austria, for institutional exchanges.

On that morning, Stefan Krammer, chairman of the council of the University of Vienna, and Barbara Good, director of the international office of the university, welcomed the delegation.

Wang introduced CFAU's history and development, highlighting its academic strengths, distinctive educational approach, international engagements and the progress of the research center.

He noted that the University of Vienna, renowned for its long history, comprehensive academic disciplines, high level of internationalization, and distinguished achievements in Sinology and China studies, shared many areas of common interest with CFAU.

These included political science and international relations, law, economics, communications studies, and region- and country-specific studies.

He expressed CFAU's willingness to strengthen its ties with the University of Vienna and to expand exchanges and cooperation in such areas as China-Europe relations, the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity, international organizations and global governance, international law, international economics, multilateral diplomacy, international communications and contemporary China studies.

He noted that enhanced collaboration would help leverage the respective strengths of both institutions, promote mutual understanding between Chinese and Austrian youth and academic communities, and contribute to efforts to improve global governance.

Krammer welcomed the delegation and introduced the University of Vienna's history, its academic development, international partnerships, and exchanges with Chinese institutions.

He stated that his university attaches great importance to cooperation with Chinese universities and research institutions and that it looks forwards to expanding its collaboration with CFAU through faculty and student exchanges, academic dialogues and joint research initiatives.

For her part, Good provided an overview of the university's international cooperation network and student exchange programs.

Both sides held in-depth discussions on university internationalization, China-Europe academic exchanges, global governance studies, talent cultivation and future cooperation priorities, reaching broad consensus on potential areas of collaboration.

Later on, Martin Eichtinger, president of the Vienna School of International Studies, and Martina Schubert, vice-president of the school, received the delegation.

Wang reviewed the history of cooperation between the two institutions and provided an update on the development of the research center.

He noted that the Vienna School of International Studies — located in one of the world's foremost centers of multilateral diplomacy — played an important role in training diplomatic and international affairs professionals in Europe. Moreover, it possesses unique strengths in diplomatic education, multilateral diplomacy, international organizations and global governance studies, Wang said.

Wang pointed out that the two institutions share similar educational missions and have established a strong foundation for cooperation. He highlighted the successful implementation of the diplomatic skills development summer program in recent years and proposed further collaborations in curriculum development, faculty and student exchanges and joint research.

He suggested that the two institutions expand their cooperation in such areas as multilateral diplomacy, international organizations and global governance, China-Europe relations and the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity — with a view to fostering closer academic ties and cultivating future diplomatic talent.

For his part, President Eichtinger warmly welcomed the delegation and spoke highly of the long-standing friendship and fruitful cooperation between the two institutions.

He emphasized that the Vienna School of International Studies highly values its partnership with CFAU and praised the outstanding performance of Chinese students participating in its programs. He expressed his school's willingness to further expand cooperation in summer programs, student exchanges, faculty visits, talent development for international organizations and research on multilateral diplomacy.

Vice-President Schubert talked about recent developments in student exchange programs between the two institutions.

The two sides also exchanged views on strengthening institutional cooperation mechanisms, cultivating future diplomatic talent and promoting research on the United Nations and the reform of the global governance system — reaching consensus for future cooperation in many areas.