The billionaire founder of US equity firm Blackstone, Stephen Schwarzman, has unveiled a $300 million scholarship fund, aiming to send 200 foreign post-graduate students to study in China each year.
Schwarzman has donated $100 million of his own money and is raising a further $200 million, to send students from across the world on an international education programme at the Tsinghua University in Beijing, in subjects that include public policy and international relations.
The programme is modelled on the Rhodes Scholarship programme that saw foreign students study at Oxford University in the UK, and has generated substantial interest from many Western backers.
Announcing the scheme, Schwarzman hoped that it would “foster stronger and deeper relationships” adding that it would develop “a far richer and more nuanced understanding of China’s social, political and economic context”. He went on to state,
“A win-win relationship of mutual respect between the West and China is vital, benefiting Asia and the rest of the world, and enhancing economic ties that could lead to a new era of mutual prosperity”.
Amongst the many firms who have backed the scheme are BP, Boeing, Caterpillar, Bank of America and Credit Suisse. Those on the advisory board of the fund include, former US Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, American cellist Yo-Yo Ma and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Commenting on the fund, the Financial Times stated in their editorial,
“This is a groundbreaking initiative. China has never opened its university system to foreigners to this extent."
"It comes as the new leadership is discussing reform in many areas. And without a world-class educational establishment, China’s international prestige will always be in question. Though Tsinghua has educated the president, Xi Jinping, and many of China’s ruling elite, it remains largely unknown outside its country. Allowing in a large contingent of the best and brightest from around the world will not only enhance its reputation and expose it to the demands of international education. It will also groom a corps with unique experience of the world’s newest superpower.”
