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Author: Letícia Araújo and Mayara Morais

Photo: João Paulo Lacal B. Negreiros

everyone da flauc

On November 9th and 10th, UNICAMP hosted the 5th Annual Meeting of the Fudan-Latin America University Consortium (FLAUC). Organized by the Executive Directorate of International Relations (DERI) and the Institute of Economics (IE), the event had the theme “Sustainable growth and social vulnerability in Latin America and China: challenges in the Post-Pandemic era”. 

Initially founded as a communication and collaboration platform between 15 Latin American universities and the Chinese higher education institution, Flauc now has its first in-person event, after four editions which, due to the confinement imposed by the spread of Covid-19, took place exclusively virtual way. The meeting, which lasted two days, addressed the consequences and effects of the pandemic in the association's member countries. “The pandemic has increased our awareness of the uncertainties that may surround our growth and the profound changes we are going through. In this sense, top universities play a crucial role in thinking about issues related to development”, highlights Xu Zheng. The event was funded by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) and the Instituto Confúcio Unicamp.

Present at the opening table were the rector of UNICAMP, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles; Professor Xu Zheng, Executive Vice President of Fudan University; Tian Yuzhen, deputy consul general of China in São Paulo; and professor Célio Hiratuka, director of the Institute of Economics. 

According to consul Tian Yuzhen, Latin America's recovery in the post-pandemic period is marked by uncertainty, with rising inflation, unemployment and food insecurity. The rector, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, highlighted the satisfaction of hosting this important event, which addresses two major challenges for Brazil: food insecurity and sustainability. “We should not only look for technical solutions but ones that reduce social vulnerability”, he said.

Following this, an international academic cooperation agreement was signed, aiming to strengthen relations between UNICAMP and Fudan University through exchanges of teachers, researchers and students, in addition to joint research projects. 

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Rector of UNICAMP, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles; and Professor Xu Zheng, Executive Vice President of Fudan University, signing the cooperation agreement

After signing the agreement, thematic sessions on “Society and culture” took place and the FLAUC General Assembly was held, which was attended by Prof. Maria Luiza Moretti, General Coordinator of UNICAMP; Prof. Bruno De Conti, Director of the Confucius Institute at UNICAMP; in addition to delegates from several Latin American countries. During the meeting it was announced that the next meeting will be in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

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Unicamp representatives and delegates from Latin American countries at the FLAUC General Assembly

The last activity of the 9th was the lecture “Fighting poverty and food insecurity in Latin America and in China” taught by Prof. José Francisco Graziano, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from 2012 to 2019 and Prof. Wang Xiaolin, Deputy Director of the Six-Sector Economics Institute of Fudan University and Executive Director of the Shanghai Institute of Cooperation and Development (Fudan University), with the mediation of Prof. Walter Belik, from the UNICAMP Institute of Economics.

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From right to left: Prof. José Francisco Graziano, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from 2012 to 2019, Prof. Walter Belik, from the UNICAMP Institute of Economics and Prof. Wang Xiaolin, Deputy Director of the Institute of Six-Sector Economics at Fudan University and Executive Director of the Shanghai Institute of Cooperation and Development (Fudan University)

On the last day of the event (10), there were thematic sessions on “Investment and trade”, “Governance, geopolitics and financial order”, and “Poverty and food insecurity”, in addition to the lecture “China-Global South Relations: Africa and Latin America” taught by Prof. David Monyae, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations and Director of the Center for Africa-China Studies (CACS) at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, and Prof. Juan Pablo Laporte, Full Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Researcher at the Argentina-China Studies Center (ACSC) at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina, mediated by Prof. Antonio Carlos Diegues, Professor at the Institute of Economics at UNICAMP.

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From right to left: Prof. David Monyae, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations and Director of the Center for Africa-China Studies (CACS) at the University of Johannesburg; Prof. Juan Pablo Laporte, Full Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Researcher at the Argentina-China Studies Center (ACSC) at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina and Prof. Antonio Carlos Diegues, Professor at the Institute of Economics at UNICAMP.
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