BCSA - Bocconi Chinese Student Association

28/12/2022

The rise of Chinese universities in top world rankings.

Chinese universities enlisted in international rankings have largely increased: from 9 institutions in 2013 to 95 in the 2023 World University Ranking of Times Higher Education. According to the same international ranking, 7 Chinese universities have been ranked this year in the world’s top 100.

China's top universities have recorded a skyrocketing ascension in the past decade. For instance, Tsinghua University, the highest-ranked institution from China and Asia, rose from 52nd to 16th; Peking University went from 46th to 17th. More impressively, Shanghai Jiao Tong University rose from 276th to 52nd. These 3 universities are part of the C9 league created in 2009, seen as China’s Ivy League. Besides, in China, to enter a university, one must take the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, commonly known as Gaokao. Over the 10 million test takers each year, less than 0,2% get into the C9 league. Finally, while 20% of China’s research publications originate from the C9 league, only 3% of researchers come from one of these elite universities, which are notably Fudan University and Harbin Institute of Technology.

How did the Chinese universities climb the rankings?

The government had an important role. It launched two crucial initiatives: Project 211 (1995-2016) & Project 985(1998). The former aimed at developing and improving 100 universities, while increasing their research standards. The latter allocated national and local funds to develop elite universities at an international level, from 9 universities to 42 in 2013.

The rise is also linked to the increasing production of high-quality academic research by universities since the mid-1990s, as it is highly taken into account in the evaluation of world university rankings. Higher-education institutions from China, focused on scientific fields, have gradually gained international recognition by producing a greater quality of research on a larger scale compared to the US or Europe.

28/12/2022

知音 (zhī yīn), literally “knowing sound”, describes a close friend who truly understands you. The origin of this meaning takes us back to Boya and Ziqi's story.

Yu Boya was a famous musician during the “warring states” period (770–476 BCE), with his undiscussed talent he was able to master the qin, a traditional Chinese instrument of the zither family. Only one thing tormented him: not being able to express his feelings with music. Seeing this, his Master Cheng Lian took him on an island in the East China Sea to visit his own master. After their arrival, Boya was asked to wait for the master, but days passed with no sight of him. Only the sound of the forest and the melancholic singing of birds kept Boya out of the deepest of silence. With time he started feeling lonely so he played his qin, producing the soul-stirring music he was seeking, as Master Cheng Lian planned. However,Boya was still unsatisfied that no one could understand his beautiful music.

One day, he was traveling on a riverboat when it began to rain, pushed by the sound of pouting water, he decided to play a tune in response. While playing he saw a woodchopper, named Zhong Ziqi, who had been listening so attentively that he forgot about the rain. Boya invited him on his boat to share his music with him. Unexpectedly, Ziqi could understand Yu’s music. When Boya played the song while thinking about high mountains, Ziqi right away exclaimed “What majestic mountains!”, and when Boya thought about river flows, he immediately commented “How impressive these rivers are!”. Whatever Boya was thinking, Ziqi would certainly get it. Boya finally found his zhiyin, the one who was capable of understanding his music: his joy was boundless, and an ever-lasting friendship had started.

Years later, when Boya decided to visit Ziqi again, he found out that his friend had already died, which filled him with pain and sorrow. He rushed to Ziqi's tomb, knelt down, and started playing his last piece; then he crushed his qin into the ground and never played again: he lost his zhiyin, for him playing a song became meaningless with no one under

28/12/2022

Final match: “Bocconi1” vs “Politecnico3”🔥🏐

28/12/2022

Meet the faces of 2022/2023 board😉🔥

03/10/2022

21/09/2022

As always BCSA is thrilled to announce its most awaited event, BCSA Welcome Dinner is back again this year! You will have the chance to know BCSA’s Team, meet new people, participate in a lot of activities and live performances, and if you are lucky..... also win some prizes!
📅 Saturday 1st October 18:30
📍 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐰𝐚 - 𝐕𝐢𝐚 𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝟏𝟔 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒𝟏 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐨

Participation fee: €28
(includes the dinner & beverages)

You can fill in the registration form by scanning the QR code or using the link in bio.

06/09/2022

[registration are open] like every year around this time our welcome aperitif is back🔥🔥It's the perfect opportunity to meet new people and get to know the members of BCSA

📅Tuesday 13 September at 8pm
📍Porter House - via Pompeo leoni 5

Participation fee :
• 15€ one drink + food
• 20€ two drinks + food

You can fill in the registration form by scanning the qr code

12/05/2022

SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE

[Reading time: 60 seconds]

The “Great Sichuan earthquake”, also known as “Wenchuan earthquake”, happened on 12th May 2008 in the Sichuan province. The magnitude of the earthquake was 8.0 and over 69,000 people lost their lives, the deadliest earthquake in China since 1976 (242,000 dead) and the strongest since 1950 (magnitude 8.6). People felt the earthquake also in Beijing and Shanghai, from more than 1,500 km away. Within 72 hours, there were 64 to 104 major aftershocks with magnitude from 4 to 6.

At the time, the 2008 Olympics were being held in Beijing and, fortunately, none of the venues were damaged. However, a major disaster occurred when a train carrying petrol caused a fire and a leakage of liquid ammonia from two chemical plants buried hundreds of people. The nightmare lasted about 2 minutes but caused 400,000 injured people and 4.8 million homeless. Almost 80% of the surrounding buildings were destroyed. The government calculated a total damage of $150 billion, spent over the next three years to rebuild the ravaged areas.

Other major damages included the blackout in communications in the Sichuan area, as mobile and terrestrial telecommunications were cut, along with the internet. It would take over 3 months to fully restore the telecommunications system in the region.

The remarkability of the natural disaster also lies in its global effects; the price of copper increased due to speculation that production in Southwestern China had been affected by the earthquake. The price of oil dropped, with fears that the demand from China would decrease. The trading of companies based in Southwestern China was suspended on both the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

China’s increased investment in disaster preparedness means a similar tragedy is unlikely. A major cause of death in 2008 was the collapse of older buildings. The majority of schools in earthquake prone areas have been retrofitted or rebuilt, and the populations in these areas educated about the risks and hazards relating to earthquakes.

Credits:
Christine Yu
Basile Theaud
Antony Wu