On the morning of July 13, 2023, a delegation led by LEI Hao, Deputy Director of the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO) of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOFCOM), visited Tongji University. The delegation met with LYU Peiming, Executive Vice President of Tongji University. The AIBO delegation members present at the meeting included DU Zhaojun (Director of Project Management Division I), HUANG Yuning (Deputy Director of the Liaison Office), and FAN Wenyi (Officer of Project Management Division II). Faculty members from Tongji University also attended the meeting, including CHEN Yili (Director of the International Student Office), LI Jing (Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office), and LU Lijun (Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the College of Environmental Science and Engineering). Additionally, WANG Ying (Vice Dean of the College of Environmental Science and Engineering and Vice Dean of the UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development), LI Fengting (Academician of the African Academy of Sciences and Professor of the College of Environmental Science and Engineering), and WU Bing (a representative of the mentors for the international students) attended the meeting.

LYU Peiming, Executive Vice President of Tongji University, extended a warm welcome to the AIBO delegation led by Deputy Director LEI Hao. He outlined the history of Tongji University and AIBO's journey of growth. He also expressed his aspiration for strengthening collaboration with AIBO to cultivate talent for the international community and to make meaningful contributions to global progress. LEI Hao highly praised Tongji University for its significant role in China's national foreign-aid training program and its remarkable achievements in the education field. He pointed out that the mission of the foreign aid training program is to foster global connections for China and tell the world an excellent Chinese story. In the future, maintaining a strong focus on quality control throughout the entire process will remain crucial for cementing the high standards of the program in its later stages. Subsequently, CHEN Yili, Director of the International Students Office at Tongji University, and JIA Qian, Director of the Office of the UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD), offered insights into the current situation of international student education and the progress of IESD's foreign-aid academic degree and diploma program respectively.

At the end of the meeting, the two parties jointly awarded certificates to the 2020 graduates of the MOFCOM's foreign-aid academic degree and diploma program.

Since 2015, Tongji University has been implementing the MOFCOM's foreign-aid academic degree and diploma program, the International Master's Degree Program in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development. Over the past eight years, we have trained 255 government and corporate officials from 55 recipient countries. Over the years, Tongji University has been committed to fostering an advanced international education model to cultivate top-notch, versatile technical and managerial talents in environment and sustainable development for countries worldwide, especially for those along the "Belt and Road".