In the morning of January 1st, Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solís, the first head of state that visited China in 2015, paid his visit to RUC to receive an honorary doctorate and an appointment as an honorary consultant in RUC’s Latin America Research Center. President Solís addressed the audience with a speech named Latin America: its international relations, the Chinese role in the future and the role of Costa Rica in that Context.

President Solís received his doctor diploma and letter of appointment respectively from RUC President Chen Yulu and the Chairwoman of the University Council Jin Nuo.

The awarding ceremony was hosted by RUC Vice President Yi Zhihong.

Present at the ceremony, there were many officials from both countries and other 11 Latin American countries, delegates from various ministries and academic institutions and members of RUC leadership.

President Chen Yulu offered his sincere congratulations to President Solís. He noted that both China and Costa Rica are developing countries and it is the common aspiration of the two peoples to promote our communication and cooperation. RUC, as one of China’s top universities, has always been making its contributions to facilitate educational and cultural communication between the two countries. One good example of these contributions is the establishment of the Confucius Institute at the University of Costa Rica with RUC as partner in 2008, which has been serving as an important platform in promoting mutual understanding of the two peoples as well as strengthening educational and cultural ties between the two countries.

As introduced by RUC Vice President Hong Dayong, President Solís, a student graduated from University of Costa Rica, is now a prominent scholar and professor there in the field of humanities and social sciences. Today, he is not only a marvelous politician who has made remarkable economic and social contributions to his country, but also an outstanding scholar with impressive academic achievements. After joining RUC as a doctor and a consultant, his Excellency will surely help us deepen our friendship, promote the development of various disciplines, and forge closer ties between RUC and its counterparts in Costa Rica and other Latin American Countries.

President Chen also hoped that President Solís can continue to support RUC in its future reform and development and make it an important bridge between China and Costa Rica as well as other Latin American countries.

President Solís expressed his gratitude for the doctorate in RUC, which he believed is a high recognition of his achievements, a greater responsibility, and more importantly, an opportunity for deeper academic communication and cooperation.

In his speech, President Solís also elaborated on the values, characteristics, and principles of Latin America and its role in this changing and increasingly globalized world. He believed that different regions of the world should form tighter links as economic globalization deepens, and that Latin America, in particular, should go in line with the general trend and play a more active role in international affairs. And he specifically emphasized that Costa Rica has achieved big progress in its economic and social development thanks to its persistent efforts in education, social reform, disarmament and other areas, thus making great contributions to the peace process in Latin America. Therefore, the cooperation and communication between China and Costa Rica can and will be promising and more fruitful.

President Solís’s speech was then followed by an energetic and profound Q&A session with RUC students and teachers, which covered various issues such as bilateral relations between the two countries, academic communications, the role of Costa Rica in Latin America, etc.

Another thing worth mentioning is the music performance by RUC’s student art troupe at the beginning and the end of the ceremony, which not only brightened the whole event, but also inspired much interest from President Solís.

Before the ceremony, Chairwoman Jin and President Chen met with President Solís and had a deep dialogue about how to accelerate educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

During the meeting, Chairwoman Jin indicated that RUC enjoys unique advantages in China’s humanities and social sciences field, and it always attaches great importance to Latin America studies as well as academic and educational communication with Latin American countries. Therefore, President Solís’s joining RUC as a doctor and consultant will be a definite boost to the improvement of RUC’s research and academic performance, and will eventually help both sides strengthen academic exchanges and diplomatic ties.

President Solís responded by saying that it is a great honor to receive a doctorate from RUC, a world-renowned university with a long and profound history, and that it is of great significance for RUC to establish its Latin America Research Center. He also indicated that he hope RUC can maintain long-term cooperation with Costa Rica’s research institutes for more and better achievements and bigger influences as the think-tanks of the two nations. Moreover, President Solís expressed his willingness to do more in exchanging overseas students since they can be very effective bridges and channels in our communication.

Chairwoman Jin then gave President Solís a portrait of his Excellency, which was painted in traditional Chinese painting style with brush, ink, mineral paints on rice paper by Associate Professor Gao Yi from School of Fine Arts of RUC. Then President Chen gave President Solís a set of tailored doctor costumes.