In order to actively respond to the national “One Belt and Road” initiative, the school of public affairs of Zhejiang University organized and carried out the “Vietnam Visit and Study Exchange” project around the construction goal of “Double top-class” Universities of Zhejiang University. The members in visiting group majored in different areas, including three members from social security and risk management, two members from political science and public affairs and two from sociology. Led by the professor Zhang from the social security and risk management, Vietnam visiting and exchanging group visited Vietnam from the 4th to 13th May.
The first stop is Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), a university which is located in the Hanoi, the north of Vietnam, is a research-oriented university that is good at agricultural research. In order to strengthen the communication and cooperation between Zhejiang University and the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, professor Zhang held the signing ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the school of public affairs of Zhejiang University. During the signing ceremony, the teachers of VNUA shared with members of visiting group problems appeared in rural and agricultural development in Vietnam, such as the problems of migrant workers, left-behind children and so on. It’s obvious that the problems appeared in Vietnam are very similar to those in central and western China. After the signing ceremony, members of the visiting group visited the beautiful scenery of VNUA, and had lunch with the teachers.
The second activity comes to attend the seminar held at the school of economic and rural development. Before the seminar, the promotional video of Zhejiang University was presented, and the song of it sang, which quickly narrowed the distance between the two sides, hoping to express the welcome of Zhejiang University to Vietnamese students and the wish for the further cooperation. After those warm-up activities, professor Zhang presented an academic report on the study of “field experimental economics: an experimental control of the impact of pig insurance on farmers’ behaviors in Henan and Zhejiang Provinces in China”, and shared his experience and findings in rural China with the teachers and students. Professor E from VNUA also presented a report on the study of “Disease risks along the small household pig value chain in Vietnam”. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on the contents of the report as well as agricultural issues between China and Vietnam.
To learn more about Vietnam, our visiting group, arranged by VNUA, followed professor E to a rural community in Hun Yen Province, about an hour’s drive from Hanoi, for a field survey. The visiting group visited the office of the local commune and had communicated with commune representatives on such topics as rural education, agricultural production, farmers income security and the basic situation of the rural population.
In addition, the visiting group also held a panel discussion with the villagers in the commune, which covered a wide range of topics, including gender imbalance in rural areas, agricultural insurance, and religious life and so on. After that, the visiting group visited the homes of two farmers with the lead of village cadres and looked around the daily living places and local customs of Vietnamese farmers. During the field trip, the members of the visiting group had a deeper understanding of Vietnam and saw more aspects of Vietnam that are not familiar to us. The members also expressed that the field trip greatly broadened their horizon and was very beneficial to their future academic research.
The second stop of the fieldwork is the local social policy bank. The visiting group held a seminar with the staff of the social policy bank of Hung Yen province. At the Symposium, topics about rural credit and rural insurance were discussed, and the differences between China and Vietnam on rural credit and insurance were also compared. After the discussion, the bank staff extended a warm welcome to the visiting group, and group members also expressed their gratitude for their warm reception.
In addition, in Hanoi, the visiting group visited the National Institute of Animal Science in Vietnam. The researchers of the institute showed the propaganda video of them and reported the main research fields and achievements they have made.
Vietnam is a country that has a great variety between the north and the south. To get a fuller picture of Vietnam, the visiting group visited the villages near Ho Chi Minh city in the south of Vietnam under the arrangement of the VNUA.
The 10-day Vietnam visiting trip concluded on 13th May in Ho Chi Minh city. What the visiting group members saw and learned in Vietnam left a deep impression and valuable experience to them. China’s “One Belt and Road” is committed to cooperate with other countries to achieve common development and mutual benefits. The Vietnam visiting trip is one of the practices under the background of “One Belt and Road”, promoting academic exchanges and cooperation between China and Vietnam and contributing the “Double top-class” construction of Zhejiang University.
Photos: Yunya Zhou
Writing: Siying Zhang, Haoqiao Zhang
The Vietnam visiting group
