European studies at Nankai university can be traced back to 1975, when we undertook the project of EC's “Common Agricultural Policy” in response to the demand from agricultural department. In 1979, European Study Association was established in China. As an original member of European Study Association, Nankai university began to participate in more and more activities in the field of European studies. In 1984, the EEC Study Association came into being in China, late Professor Yi Menghong was elected as a standing member on the board. Thanks to the support from the University leaders, the information center for European Studies was established affiliated with the Department of International Economics and Trade. The center receive European related materials that was worth ECU10,000 annually from EEC. That constitutes a solid foundation for our further research on European issues. Today, we offer a series of introductory courses for undergraduates and also set up some research-oriented subject for graduates and PhD students.

     In 1997, the Ministry of Education approved the establishment of “The Centre for European Studies” at Nankai University, which was a part of the implementation of “EU——CHINA Higher Education Co-operation Programme”

     Nankai ESC is directly under the University, administered by Vice President in charge of social sciences and humanities. The disciplines and faculties that are closely related with and actively involved in our research activities include: School of Economics, International School of Business, School of Law and Politics, School of History. It is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary academic organization. The director of the Center is Professor Tong Jiadong. Subordinate units cover the fields of European economy, European social issues, European legal system and politics, and European history, etc. And we also have a information center and a administrative office. Our involvements in EU——CHINA Higher Education Co-operation Programme was quite successful and productive. Forty three projects received grants from EU, among which 28 are personnel exchange programs and 6 are joint research programs. We also benefited a lot from that programme with respect to curriculum development projects, the Center development (hardware improvements) and a series of workshop and seminars.

            Our Understanding of European Studies


     The accurate definition for European Studies remains a debatable issue. However, with the Nankai’s academic merits as well as our experiences in European related issues’ studies, our interpretation goes like this: the so-called European Studies refers to a systematic study on European economy, politics, history and society together with their related field and related aspects’ studies, which takes European integration or European unification as its target, with Europe’s economic and political integration as its focus. In a large sense, it probes into the process and perspective towards Europe’s economic and political integration; it looks into the historical and current status of the EU member states or the potential members states in the course of European unification; it studies the EU’s external economic and political relations; it sheds light on the establishment of Sino-EU’s strategic partnership as well as the coordination and development of the bilateral relations.