Recently, the National Natural Science Foundation of China has approved the international cooperative research project which is co-applied by the Economics and Management School (EMS) of WHU and the School of Law of University of Leeds. Themed “the reinvestigation of law, finance and economic growth—challenges on China’s innovation and experiences from Britain”, this project is jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Economic and Social Research Council of Britain with an equivalent funding level as the key projects of the National Natural Science Fund.

University of Leeds is one of the strategic partners of Wuhan University. The two universities have built up a close partnership thanks to years of exchange and co-cultivation of students and staff. Stimulating international academic research and cooperation is one of the focuses strongly supported by the Office of International Affairs this year. It is at the working conference when University of Leeds visited Wuhan University in May of 2016 that both sides reached a consensus to co-apply for the international cooperative research project. Later, the Office of International Affairs decided to recommend the Economics and Management School to join the application. This project is hosted by Prof. Huang Xian of Wuhan University and Prof. G. McCormack of University of Leeds. As the first successful application of a state-level international cooperative project in the Economics and Management School, it will help promote its internationalization.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Economic and Social Research Council of Britain made “the research on financial management to support China’s sustainable development” the research theme of this year’s funding scheme. It is known that apart from the team of Wuhan University and the University of Leeds, there are another 37 applicants, including Chinese academic institutes such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, SJTU and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as well as their British partners such as the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, LSE and other prestigious universities from around the world. After the joint assessment of NSFC and ESRC, 9 projects from Wuhan University, Tsinghua University, and Fudan University were approved.

(Rewritten by Jin Yiwen, Edited by Shen Yuxi, Hu Sijia, Edmund Wai Man Lai)