Inditex Industria de Diseño Textil : and Tsinghua University set up a scholarship to support the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative globally

The chairman and CEO of Inditex, Pablo Isla, and the vice-president of Tsinghua University, Yang Bin, have signed an agreement to award scholarships to students from the over 52 countries forming part of the 'One Belt One Road' initiative, (the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st -century Maritime Silk Road). The Fund will enable the students to pursue their studies at the prestigious Chinese university and also encompasses other cultural exchange initiatives between the countries participating in the project.

'Belt and Road' initiative is the name of the cultural, political and economic project promoted to further strengthen the relation between different countries and cultures in Asia, Europe and Africa. Its given name is a remembrance of the historical cultural and commercial exchange that traditionally joined Asia, Europe y Africa, lately known as the 'Silk Road'.

With the creation of the 'Tsinghua-Inditex Belt and Road Educational and Scholarship Fund', Inditex and Tsinghua University adheres to the 'One Belt One Road' initiative. The company will earmark €400,000 to the Fund over a three-year period.

According to Pablo Isla, Inditex's addition to the Belt and Road project alongside Tsinghua University 'is a fresh opportunity to support this international intercultural exchange project in which Spain is also involved, while it will also help our company to benefit from Chinese academic and research excellence.'

Vice-president Yang Bin expressed Tsinghua gratitude to Inditex for the company's support for student development at the University over many years. 'The establishment of the 'Tsinghua - Inditex Belt and Road Scholarship and Teaching Fund' is not only a continuation and intensification of Tsinghua's support and cooperation, but also of the joint participation of enterprises and higher education institutions in the 'Belt and Road' initiative,' he added.

The Inditex-Tsinghua Belt and Road Scholarships will target students from all the countries forming part of the Belt and Road initiative and will join other cultural exchange activities to be managed by the Tsinghua University Foundation.

INDITEX and TSINGHUA

This is the second agreement between Inditex and Tsinghua: in 2016, the company and the Tsinghua School of Economics Management (SEM) agreed the funding of scholarships for attendance at the business school. These scholarships are used to fund travel by scholarship students to A Coruña (Spain) for work experience at Inditex and other companies in areas such as fashion, logistics, environmental protection and sustainable development, among others.

That first agreement, set to run for three years, envisages the provision of support for the professional development of academic staff by means of training activities for young faculty members from Tsinghua SEM in areas such as scientific research and teacher training, as well as the promotion of cultural activities for students at the Tsinghua SEM campus.

Tsinghua University, one of China's most prestigious universities, was founded in Beijing in 1911. From the outset, the institution has fostered interaction between the Chinese and European cultures, between the sciences and the humanities and between tradition and modernisation. At present, Tsinghua boasts 14 university centres and 56 departments including the faculties of science, engineering, the humanities, law, medicine, philosophy, economics, management, education and the arts. A beacon for its community commitments, Tsinghua University is one of the most active institutions in cultural, business and political life in China.