On the morning of August 19, a delegation headed by Ren Youqun, member of the CPC Leading Group and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education conducted a field visit to Yenching Academy. The delegation was accompanied by Gao Song, President of Peking University and a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and by Qiao Jie, President of PKU Health Science Center (PKUHSC) and a Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). Dong Qiang, Dean of Yenching Academy (YCA) briefed the delegation on YCA’s development. Seven Yenching scholars and alumni attended the event.
Dean Dong outlined the program’s mission, student profile, curriculum, faculty, teaching, career outcomes, and global alumni network. Drawing on the PKU’s academic strengths and cultural legacy, Yenching Academy’s master’s program in China Studies enables its Chinese and international students to gain a deeper understanding of China through interdisciplinary courses, intellectual training, leadership development, and field studies. And the Academy is committed to fostering exchanges and mutual learning among young talents from all around the world in the multicultural Yenching community.
Since its establishment, Yenching Academy has enrolled a total of 1,183 students from 412 universities and colleges of 89 countries and regions. The Academy’s greatest strength lies in its high-caliber student body and high application numbers year on year. The 2026 Cohort comes from diverse academic backgrounds, including the University of Oxford, Peking University, the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Princeton University, Sciences Po, and Georgetown University, as well as world-class universities in BRI countries and the Global South. YCA invites faculty members from PKU’s humanities and social sciences departments to offer an English-taught curriculum encompassing history, international relations, law, society and economics, management, culture, and philosophy and religion. The Academy’s program gives equal emphasis to field studies and intellectual training. Over the 12 years since YCA’s establishment, the Academy has invited 170 teachers from PKU’s 25 departments and schools to supervise YCA scholars’ MA theses. With former Prime Minister of France Jean-Pierre Raffarin as the Shuhsi Hsü Chair Professor of YCA and Prof. Zhang Longxi, a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities as Li De Chair Professor at YCA, the Academy has enjoyed an enhanced international profile. The Yenching Global Symposium (YGS) is YCA’s annual flagship event, initiated and organized by Yenching Scholars. It brings together eminent scholars and young delegates from all over the world to focus on China-related international and domestic hot topics. YGS has built itself into a global intellectual platform for young talents. YGS 2026 “Harnessing Momentum: The Power to Act in a Changing World” brought together more than 200 delegates from all over the world and invited over 30 esteemed scholars and leading professionals as speakers. During the 12 years since its founding, YCA has been honored with multiple national, Beijing municipal, and university-level awards and developed a distinctive educational pattern, playing an important role in PKU’s international development.
After Dong’s presentation, Ren Youqun, Gao Song, and Qiao Jie had a substantive discussion with representatives of YCA scholars and alumni.
Andrew Rule from the USA is a Class of 2026 graduate, who engaged in translating Chinese literary works during his study at Yenching Academy. Ren Youqn showed great interest in Rule’s literary research. Rule explained that he has a keen interest in Chinese literature and translation, particularly modern Chinese literature. During his stay in Beijing, Rule has had conversations with many Chinese writers. He is working on the translation of a novel and a non-fiction. He appreciated his two-year study at YCA, “Every one of us may approach China in a different way, but undoubtedly, we all have seen what China is truly like. The best thing is that Peking University is home to young talents from all over the world. Chinese students and international students like myself can learn from each other. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Abdul Haey-ee Asim and Brian Zhao in the 2025 Cohort are both from the United States. They were just back from a field trip to Xinjiang under the Zhixing Program organized by PKU International Students Division. Asim and Zhao talked about their experiences and observations in Kashgar and Hami. Ren Youqun asked about their routes in Xinjiang, which were concentrated in the east and south of the autonomous region. Ren then recommended a trip to northern Xinjiang. Andrea Tosoni from Italy recounted his solo road trip from Fujian to Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Gao Song shared his working experience in Guangzhou and hoped that our students could explore the Chinese history in Guangzhou. Gao Song and Qiao Jie noted that as a key frontier of opening-up, Guangzhou is where Western medical practice first began to develop in China and has China’s first Western medical school, Pok Tsai Medical School.
Ren Youqun also asked about the students’ study and life at YCA, as well as their future plans. Andrew Rule said, “I’m going to share with the people in the United States my experience in China. This is my lifelong dedication.”
After the meeting, the delegation and YCA faculty and student representatives took a group photo at Jingyuan Courtyard 3.
