Tianjin Municipality has hosted three briefing sessions on the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) specifically for foreigners who are keen to know better about China. [Special coverage]
The three briefing sessions held this month in this north China city were applauded by a foreign audience, including foreign experts, overseas students, foreign businessmen and people from foreign organizations.
Jay S. Siegel, dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology with Tianjin University, was glad that foreign faculty have equal access to the briefing.
"We think it is important to know about the Party congress because it laid out the policy where China wants to go in the next five years," he said.
Siegel said more than half of the faculty at the school are foreigners.
"We could encounter troubles if we don't know policies concerning China's higher education," he said.
One briefing session was held at Siegel's school. Feng Cuiling, Party secretary of the school, was there as a speaker to introduce reports and documents from the congress and share her impressions of attending the congress as a delegate in October.
Robert P. Borris, vice dean of the school, said he appreciated that Feng was supportive, not just for the local faculty but also the international faculty.
Du Yunfei, deputy headmaster of the school, said foreign teachers and students are keen to learn about the important national event. After the congress opened, the school prepared 300 copies of the report delivered at the opening session.
"They were all gone in an instant," he said.
Thepkanchana Thepkaew, a doctoral student from Thailand at Tianjin Normal University, said she is interested in the briefing because Thailand is located along the Belt and Road.
"I want to know how the initiative proposed by China will be pushed forward in the future, so I came to Feng's briefing," she said.
To help inform the public, briefing sessions have been held nationwide on the spirit of the landmark congress held in October, which outlines China's roadmap for future development.
While Feng needed an interpreter to convey her speech in English, the other two speakers shared their understanding of the congress spirit directly in English with the foreign audience.
Zhang Yuzhuo, Party secretary of Tianjin Binhai New Area, delivered a speech to dozens of business elite from foreign enterprises and shared what he learned as a delegate to the Party congress.
Zhang, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, had worked as chair of China's leading coal producer Shenhua Group before becoming the Party chief in Tianjin Binhai New Area in March this year. At the lecture, he talked about the Party congress itself, along with his opinions on local development.
After listening to Zhang's speech, Reinaldo Costa, vice president of Novo Nordisk Company, said the CPC's goal of "improving people's quality of life" resonates with his company's mission.
Costa said China has become more open over the past five years, with a slew of new policies to make things more convenient for foreigners living in China, such as new work permit procedures introduced in April.
Costa said he and his colleagues have benefited from the reform.
Although Yan Chunhua, vice president of Nankai University, was not a delegate to the congress, the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences shared his understanding of the policies from the congress to an audience of more than 200 from 70 countries and regions.
Mohamed Jihad Mohamed Moustafa, an overseas student from Egypt, said he learned about the development of science and technology in China through Yan's elaboration on policies highlighted at the congress.
The Egyptian student hopes to learn about China's mobile payment system and set one up in his hometown.
Foreign audience members said after the briefings that they knew more about the direction of China's development and had become more confident in continuing their stay in the country.
"I know that China is continuing to comprehensively deepen reform and ensuring that every dimension of governance is law-based. All those things are reassuring the confidence of investors, not just for the U.S. but in general," said Martin Winchell, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China in Tianjin.
"Having a strong stable government is absolutely central to reaching the goals," said Robert P. Borris, the school vice dean.
