VISITING PROGRAM FOR YOUNG SINOLOGISTS

September 3rd to 26th, 2017

Shanghai

Program review

When Xi Jinping, president od People’s Republic of China, visited Kazakhstan and Indonesia
in September and October 2013 and enounced the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road
Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, those ones who are not well
familiar with China's rapid development could have had some doubts. But today, One Belt,
One Road initiative gathers more then 65 countries all over the world with anticipated
cumulative investment of several billion US $, primarily in infrastructure, transport, finance,
science, education and culture. Chinese officials also believe that cultural and academic
exchange could be a direct bridge to enhance the mutual knowledge exchange, understanding
and cooperation between various nations, and having in mind a bigger picture also a driving
force for global human progress in the future.
Having all that in mind (or regarding all that) Chinese Ministry of Culture lunched the
Visiting Program for Young Sinologists in 2014. This annual event has aimed to strengthen
cultural and knowledge exchanges and set up a platform where young Sinologists worldwide
can communicate and learn more about Chinese culture, history, philosophy, linguistics, art,
literature, learn about modern Chinese society, but also about contemporary politics,
economics and international relations.
This year Visiting Program for Young Sinologists kicked off in four separate groups in
Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and Zhengzhou during August, September and October. VPYS in
Shanghai was hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Culture, organized by the Shanghai
Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) and co-organized by the SASS Institute of China
Studies.
Program in Shanghai gathered 30 young Sinologists (age 25 to 40) from 29 countries form
September 3rd to 26th. During that period of time distinguished Shanghai professors, such as:
Ge Jianxiong, Wang Zhan, Lu Ming, Shen Guoming, Yang Jieman etc. were giving lectures
about Chinese culture, economy, urbanization and sustainability, rule of low, diplomacy etc.
Undoubtedly the main issue was One Belt, One Road. And even the two of six groups that
students were separated, were about One Belt, One Road, because most of the Sinologists are
related to that Chinese economic initiative.
The whole program was in Chinese, but Chinese language was not mandatory (or obligatory)
since organizers have provided an interpreters who were with students for the official events.
Yet, vast majority of Sinologists speaks Chinese fluently since most of them have finished or
finishing certain postgraduate studies in People’s Republic of China.
It is also important to emphases that Chinese scholars speaks English, but they prefer
speaking in Chinese. Even for not being able to speak in Chinese, I personally uphold that,
because it also shows how big and strong Chinese soft power is.

During the program young sinologists were working together, in groups and separately with
their tutors. Every student had an tutor who is renowned professor in the filed depending on
research topic of the student. Almost every tutor is full professor and director of the some
institute or head of some SASS department or member of some high level board, etc. On the
final day of the program students represented their proposals about their research and they
now have an obligation to submit a full paper until December, so that it could be publish in
the book of papers of VPYS 2017 after peer review.

Beside lectures, seminars and workshops, VPYS also included

pored akademskog dela program je obuhvario i edukativne obilazak različitih institucija u

šangaju, al ii pojednih kineskih provincija koje se značajno razlikuju o visoko urbanizovane
sredine kao što je Šangaj.

obilazili institucije, muzeje, sudove, putovali po kini, bullet train,

Shanghai Tunnel Engineering – civil engineering company widely known as one of the best
in building subway tunnels; Lujiazui Financial Zone and Shanghai Stock Exchange, Museum
and Site of the CPC Founding Congress, Intermediate People’s Court, Huayang
Neighborhood – community for older Shanghai citizens, Chongming Island and Shanghai
Electric Group – one of the largest mechanical and electrical equipment manufactory
enterprises in whole China and with registered capital of 9.1 billion RMB.

Huangpu River Cruising,

Arranged a visit trip to Anhui and filed visit to Jingdezhen, so that young Sinologists had an
opportunity to

Fantastična organizacija, pokriveni putni troškovi i troškovi smeštaja

Šangaj je svetska metropola o koje nije potrebno trošiti reči

Šongming ostrvo:
Visit of Chongming Island has been of great importance’s for me and on the very last end I
would like to outline three things. As I have already mentioned, Chongming Island could be
the paradigm of Chinese development, urbanization and modernization. First of all having
so impressive infrastructure such as The Shanghai Yangtze Bridge and Tunnel that cost over
2,2 billion and was completed for ne more than five years by the Chinese themselves.
Second, Everything is well organized, controlled and owned by the government, so that
even the number of inhabitants did not change since 1924 it is still around 700,000. Finally
and probably the most important is this island with area of more then 1000 km2 is a good
example of how the huge economic development and modernization that China is currently
facing does not necessarily affect the environment at all. Chongming Island is the place
where all plant and animal species are protected and where the Chinese have something to
be proud of.
mogli su da se podsete ili nauče mnogo o Kini, Kina je velika kultura, velika civilizacija, pa
konačno i velika ekonomija koja može i želi mnogo toga da da modernom svetu.

koja može mno

Sa velikim zadovoljtvom preporučujem svim mladim istraživačima koji se bave temama

vazanim za kinu i koji govore kineski jezik da se obavezno prijave i uzmu učešće u nekom
narednom VPYS.

kinezi su veoma prijatni i druželjubivi, p

boravak u kini je predstavljao pravo zadovoljstvo, bogata kultura i tradicija

In today’s China, profound changes are happening every day in all areas including culture,
society and economy, which are closely related to the history, heritage and traditions of this
nation, providing diversified resources, approaches and perspectives for the study of China
and Chinese culture as an academic or professional pursuit.

The, initiated by the Ministry of Culture of China and the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, offers opportunities for young scholars, translators and promoters of Chinese
studies around the world to visit China and forge research partnership with prominent
Chinese academic, cultural and educational institutions, organizations, enterprises, scholars
and artists. It aims to provide them
with first-hand and in-depth experiences, enabling environment and substantial support to
further deepen and enrich their studies about China and Chinese culture for both short and
long terms

Visiting Program for Young Sinologists is run by the Culture Ministry of China and Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences. Since 2014, the annual event has aimed to strengthen cultural
exchanges and set up a platform where young Sinologists worldwide can communicate and
learn more about Chinese culture and history. Three sessions were held in 2014 and 2015,
garnering positive reviews among scholars and experts across the world. The fourth Visiting
Program for Young Sinologists kicked off in Beijing on June 6, where 31 Sinologists from 26
countries attended the study project, with a wide range of research subjects, including
Chinese literature, history, philosophy, art, linguistics, politics and society, and international
relations.
where you could conduct your research projects and share your
experiences and expertise of China studies. The expenses, including
international round-trip air-fare, local boarding and accommodation,
collective transportation costs in China, as well lecturing fees and the
costs, will be born by the host. For more information, please refer to
the note for participants.

Milan Lipovac, PhD

assistant professor