The University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) opened Wednesday a new campus in Israel for undergraduate studies in business administration. The occasion was marked with a ceremony attended by both on-site and online visitors.

Matan Vilnai, former Israeli ambassador to China and former minister in the Israeli government, will serve as president of the university branch in the central city of Petah Tikva.

UIBE's Party Chief Jiang Qingzhe, UIBE's President Xia Wenbin, Ambassador Matan Vilnai and Petah Tikva's Mayor Rami Greenberg, along with more than 100 Petah Tikva guests and representatives of Chinese companies, attended the event.

In his opening speech, Jiang said that as one of China's top universities for its finance, economics and foreign language departments, UIBE is an open and inclusive institution. The opening of the Israeli branch will serve as another milestone and a new benchmark for cultural and educational cooperation between the two countries.

Ambassador Vilnai echoed a similar sentiment, hailing the UIBE-ISRAEL campus as a significant achievement of Chinese and Israeli educational cooperation.

UIBE's President Xia said that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the school’s founding and that the new campus will add to celebrations for the upcoming 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Israel.

The opening of the Israeli campus is a major event in the development of Petah Tikva, and will have a positive, lasting impact for years to come, Mayor Greenberg said.

In a congratulatory letter on the launching of the new campus, the Chinese Embassy to Israel said that the Israeli branch is a welcomed platform that will foster greater opportunities for innovation and cooperation between the two countries.

UIBE, founded in 1951 and located in Beijing, is a prestigious multi-disciplinary university with economics, management, law, literature and science as its core academic areas of expertise. After more than a year of preparation, the opening of the UIBE-ISRAEL campus got approval from the Israeli Council for Higher Education in July.