On November 3, 2026, Professor Lei Zhou, Vice President of Fudan University, met with a delegation led by Professor Susana Mourato, Vice President of LSE, at Fudan Institute for Global Public Policy (IGPP). The LSE delegation included Professor Bingchun Meng from Department of Media and Communications and Co-Director of the Fudan–LSE Research Centre for Global Public Policy (the Centre), and Associate Professor Timothy Hildebrandt from Department of Social Policy. Representatives from Fudan University included Professor Liyan Lu, Director of the Office of Global Partnerships; Professor Yijia Jing, Dean of IGPP and Co-Director of the Centre; Lulin Xu, Postdoctoral Fellow at IGPP; and Yuan Zhang and Zhuang Han, Postdoctoral Research Fellows at the Fudan–LSE Global Public Policy Hub.

On behalf of Fudan University, Vice President Zhou extended a warm welcome to Professor Mourato and her delegation. He thanked her for attending the 5th Fudan–LSE Annual Academic Conference and for her longstanding support of cooperation between the two universities. He noted that the conference has become a flagship platform for bringing together scholars from both institutions to discuss pressing global issues. In the face of global challenges in economics, governance, climate, and technology, Fudan University places great importance on building meaningful partnerships with world-leading universities such as LSE. He expressed his hope that both institutions would continue to strengthen and expand their partnership through interdisciplinary and cross-border dialogue, generating further collaborative achievements.

Professor Mourato expressed her pleasure in attending the conference and congratulated both institutions on the successful event. She recognized the significant achievements of the partnership and reaffirmed LSE’s strong commitment to cooperation with Fudan University. Looking ahead, she suggested further strengthening collaboration through joint research funding initiatives, Fudan–LSE themed events, joint efforts to expand global academic networks, and summer school programs.

The meeting also served as an expanded meeting of the Board of the Centre. On behalf of the Centre, Professor Jing presented an overview of its progress in faculty and student exchanges, research collaboration, academic activities, and talent development, along with plans for future initiatives. Building on a review of existing achievements, participants focused on measures to further advance cooperation between the two universities and reached a shared understanding on several areas for future collaboration.

During her visit, Professor Mourato also delivered a lecture titled “AI and the Future of Social Science Research: New Methods, New Possibilities, and New Risks” as part of the 96th Fudan–LSE Lecture Series.