BAI forged partnership with the Academy of Social Democratic Party of Vienna (WBA) in 2019. Since the sudden onslaught of COVID-19 across the world, BAI has been in close contact with WBA. At the invitation of WBA, the two sides held a virtual conference on January 19, 2021.

Mr. Zhang Jun, vice president of BAI, Mr.Marcus Schober, director of WBA, and staff from the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange from the two sides attended the meeting. First, Zhang updated the Austrian partner briefly on the latest data of the pandemic in China and Beijing before he handed over to Mr. Schober. Zhang mentioned that the pandemic is a major public health emergency since the CPC took power. The crisis is a litmus test of the ruling Party’s governance philosophy and effectiveness. The strong leadership of the CPC has been fundamental to China’s rapid containment of the virus. BAI has done its part to prevent the virus by sending its faculty and staff members to volunteer in the communities, taking body temperatures, screening for infection, and disseminating government policies.

Then, the Austrian side briefed on the situation in Austria and Vienna, including the infection number and the number of people get vaccinated against COVID-19. Clinically–approved vaccines that have been produced at scale offer a new lease of life to people across the world. It kindles our hope of prevailing over the ongoing pandemic and lights our way to a better future. The Austria side also expressed their wishes for further cooperation between European and Chinese scientists to combat the virus together.

In the last part of the meeting, the two sides shared their practices on preventing the virus on campus and innovative training methods combining online and offline training sessions during the long-term fight against the coronavirus. The two sides spoke highly of the effectiveness of online training and agreed to explore further cooperation on the design and development of online courses. Winter will eventually pass and spring is sure to come. The two sides concluded the conference by sending each other an invitation to have face-to-face communication in 2022.

The BAI-WBA virtual conference kicked off BAI’s virtual international cooperation and exchange in 2021. The success of the conference paves the way for future virtual events with BAI’s partners across the world this year.

Written by Liu Xiaoyun