On May 16th, Vice President Xie Hongxing received Professor Thomas Heberer, Co-Director of Confucius Institute Metropolis Ruhr, Germany and Director of Institute of East Asian Studies of the University of Duisburg-Essen. Representatives from the School of Political and Public Administration and the International Office attended the meeting.

Xie Hongxing emphasized that WHU and Duisburg-Essen University could further the bilateral relationship and make efforts to accelerate the establishment of a joint research platform in the field of political and public administration. The platform, Xie said, was intended to lay a solid foundation for relevant academics to apply for joint research projects, as well as for the exchange and promotion of research achievements between Germany and China.

The Confucius Institute Metropolis Ruhr, based in Duisburg, Germany, was co-established in November 2009 by the University of Duisburg-Essen and WHU.