On the morning of November 6, 2017, Maria Lohela, Speaker of the Finnish Parliament was warmly received by President Huang Jin of CUPL at the Haidian Campus. Jarno Syrjälä, Finnish Ambassador to China, and He Yehui, Vice-Chairperson of the Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress of P.R.C and Vice-Chairperson of the Finnish-Chinese Friendship Group, also attended the meeting.
Huang Jin Presented Souvenir to Maria Lohela
During the meeting, President Huang first extended a warm welcome to Speaker Maria Lohela and thanked her for choosing CUPL as the first stop during her visit to China. Then, President Huang said that CUPL had already established cooperation relationships with 233 universities, scientific research institutions and international organizations from 50 countries and regions in the world, including three universities in Finland. In order to promote understandings, mutual trust and people-to-people exchanges between the peoples in China and Europe, CUPL had jointly established the China-EU School of Law with 13 universities in Europe. President Huang stressed that CUPL was recognized as the highest institution of legal education in China and the school had significant achievements and high reputation in other fields, such as politics, economics, management, sociology, journalism and communication, literature and philosophy, and other humanities and social sciences. President Huang hoped that Speaker Maria Lohela would actively support the exchange and cooperation between CUPL and Finnish counterparts, as well as students’ exchanges and internships in the Finnish Parliament.
Maria Lohela thanked President Huang for his warm welcome and detailed introduction. She said that she was pleased to visit CUPL and to know the cooperation in CUPL and her alma mater, University of Turku. She described in detail the challenges faced by the Finnish education system and the ongoing educational reform. She also expressed great concerns about how to solve the problem of gender equality caused by the changes of university enrollment system, the unemployment caused by gender-ratio imbalance in some disciplines, and the disconnection between graduates and social needs. Maria Lohela hoped to see more faculty and students from CUPL visiting the Finnish Parliament as well as the expanded cooperation between Finnish universities and CUPL in student exchanges and academic researches.
After the meeting, Maria Lohela delivered a wonderful speech entitled “Introduction to Finland Legal System and Parliament” in the Academic Report Hall. In the speech, she reviewed the history and presented the current situation of Finland to the audience, and talked about her personal experience and intention in politics, including women's political participation, the basic political system in Finland and the status of Parliament. In particular, she touched upon the communication and cooperation in fields, such as politics, economy, culture and science, between China and Finland. She also put forward the opportunities and challenges in future development, and stressed on how to deepen, expand and strengthen bilateral relations. Following the speech, CUPL faculty and students asked questions about gender equality, global governance, judicial cooperation, immigration policy and so on. The lecture was moderated by Prof. Ma Huaide, Vice President of CUPL. Around 200 teachers and students from the School of Law, School of International Law and College of Comparative Law attended the lecture.
Maria Lohela Delivered a Wonderful Speech
