14–16 November, Yiwu – To follow the Belt and Road Initiative, support the Belt and Road International Business School, and give international students an in-depth look at China’s economy and business culture, Renmin Business School (RMBS) and the Belt and Road International Business School organized the “Understanding China” Yiwu Study Tour. Twenty-one RMBS students from more than ten countries—including Italy, Morocco, Singapore, Russia and Denmark—spent three days exploring the city’s small-commodity economy, digital-trade innovation and rural-revitalization practices.
Participants visited the Belt and Road International Business School, Yiwu Urban Planning Exhibition Center, Hengtang Park, Yiwu International Trade Market, Lizu Village and the former residence of Chen Wangdao.
At the School, Wu Weihua, Vice President of Yiwu Party School, lectured on “From Nothing to Something: The Yiwu Story,” while the Planning Hall showed how a county market became a global trading hub. At the International Trade Market, students saw live-stream sales and cross-border e-commerce in action. “I now understand why Yiwu is called the ‘world supermarket,’” said Xinya Yu, an exchange student from Copenhagen Business School.
In Lizu Village, once an ancient settlement and now a model of common prosperity, students talked with residents who had turned farmhouses into cafés and guesthouses. Dinara from St Petersburg State University bought some local products and remarked, “This trip to Yiwu has shown me its incredible charm, and I’ll definitely recommend Yiwu to my classmates and invite them to experience its unique vitality.”
At the former residence of Chen Wangdao, the students tasted the local delicacies “the flavor of truth.” While translating The Communist Manifesto, Chen was so engrossed that he dipped his zongzi in ink instead of brown sugar, saying, “Sweet enough.” The anecdote, often retold by President Xi Jinping, has given the snack its nickname “the flavor of truth.”
RMBS will continue to leverage the platform of the Belt and Road International Business School to run more field-based programs that let Chinese and foreign students “tell compelling China stories through their own eyes.”