LUMS hosts VIPs from China's Finance Ministry
Published 21 September 2004
Lancaster University Management School delivered a seven-day course for China's Ministry of Finance during August. Course participants were 20 senior officials from central, regional and city administrations throughout China.
Participants were eager to learn about principles for evaluating the efficiency of government expenditure and the practices followed in the UK. A series of lectures and discussion sessions were organised for the course delegates by the Lancaster Centre for Management in China. Co-ordinator Dongsong Zhang of London Business Exchange arranged the full UK schedule which included visits to the Treasury in London, Cambridge and Imperial College, London.
While based in Lancaster they had the opportunity to quiz financial officers at the Preston headquarters of Lancashire County Council, at the North West Development Agency's offices in Warrington, and at Lancaster's Town Hall. Professor Sue Cox, Dean of the Management School, welcomed the group of officials at the opening dinner saying:
"We are delighted to have the opportunity to host this important group of officials from the Ministry. We welcome the chance to share ideas and exchange information and are sure that the friendships formed on this course will be valuable to participants and also to the School.
"We are increasingly aware of the importance of China in the world economy and are pleased that we can play a part in developing relationships with this key government Ministry. Under the Directorship of Professor Alasdair MacBean and with the valuable input of Deputy Director, David Brown our Lancaster Centre for Management in China now plays an important role in faciitating these relationships."
Professor Cox is pictured above, presenting a book on the Lake District to Lin Damao, Director of the Department of Administrative and Law Enforcement in the Chinese Ministry of Finance.
Participants left Lancaster to go on to visit the Scottish Government in Edinburgh to find out how things are done there.
For most of the officials, this was their first visit to the UK and they appreciated the chance to see the country. As part of the cultural side of their tour they visited Liverpool and Chester and spent a day in the Lake District.
Lancaster University has long associations with Chinese universities and ministries, having previously run programmes for China's Ministry of Aviation, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and International Relations, and trained many of the staff of Chinese universities.
The entire course group is pictured below on a visit to Lancashire County Council in Preston.
