Jia Wenjian, president of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee, attended the 2024 Strategic Leaders Global Summit as a representative of Chinese universities.

The summit, themed “Transdisciplinary & Transnational Research to Solve Global Grand Challenges”, was held in Guadalajara, Mexico, from Oct 6 to 8.

Jia Wenjian, president of BFSU and deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee, delivers a speech at the 2024 Strategic Leaders Global Summit. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Jia delivered a speech on country and area studies from interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives, in which he highlighted BFSU’s engagement in advancing the discipline.

The world is experiencing unprecedented changes, with pressing challenges such as poverty, extremism, climate change, rapid technological advancements and conflicts among multiple countries and regions, which demand collaborative, coordinated responses, Jia said.

Given the current global challenges, the academic community should take the lead in deepening mutual understanding and promoting cultural exchanges through research, while country and area studies, as an interdisciplinary field on specific nations and regions, should take on the same responsibility, he added.

During the summit, Jia and his delegation held in-depth discussions with representatives from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), the Mexican Council of Graduate Studies (COMEPO), the UK Council for Graduate Education, the University of Guadalajara (UDG), Boston University and the Educational Testing Service.

They exchanged views on innovative models for interdisciplinary and transnational graduate education, contributions from interdisciplinary knowledge to solving major global challenges, promotion of students’ mobility and enhanced dialogue among scholars.

The summit was co-hosted by the CGS, COMEPO and UDG, gathering 50 leaders and representatives engaging in graduate education from more than 10 countries.