Overview:

The Institute of Foreign Economy and Trade, SIFT, was established, with approval of the then Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), on the 24th of October 1984 and subsequently renamed as Institute of International Business (IIB) in 1996. IIB is a distinguished academic entity with a variety of academic resources; it plays a crucial role in obtaining membership of the Research Center of Shanghai Municipal Government and acts as an executive council membership for the Shanghai Association of International Trade, the Shanghai Foreign Cultural Exchange Association and the Shanghai Association for American Studies.

Historical events

In 1984, the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Economy and Trade (SIFET) was founded; Professor Wang Yaotian, the late economist, was appointed as the founding chair of the institute.

In 1986, the Shanghai Communication Center for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was established.

In 1987, SIFET held a conference, commissioned by the Center for the Economic and Technological Development of the State Council, on China and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

In 1991, SIFET held the Conference on Uruguay Round of Multi-lateral Trade Negotiation and its Relationship with China’s Foreign Trade.

In 1996, SIFET was renamed as IIB and held the International Conference on China and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade which was sponsored by the World Bank.

In 1997, IIB held an international conference which was attended by the delegation of senior officials headed by WTO Secretary-General Renato Ruggiero, who delivered a keynote speech..

In 1999, IIB made a proposal for the acceleration of negotiations for WTO entry; the proposal took the form of a petition which was signed by a group of 20 academic scholars, and then submitted for the consideration of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

In 2001, IIB collaborated with the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation to co-organise the First SIFT-KAS Annual WTO Forum

In March 2004, Professor Wang Xinkui, President of SIFT and the dean of IIB, received a delegation led by Max Baucus, the Chairman of the US. Senate Finance Committee.

In 2005, Professor Wang Xinkui, President of SIFT and the Dean of IIB, received a delegation led by WTO Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi.

In 2006, Professor John H. Jackson from Georgetown University, known as the founding father of GATT, paid a visit to IIB and delivered an academic speech entitled as “The Status Quo and the Reform of WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanisms”.

In 2006, a delegation led by Ambassador Karan K. Bhatia, the Deputy US Trade Representative, paid a visit to IIB where the Ambassador delivered a speech..

In September 2006, Wang Xinkui, President of SIFT and the Dean of IIB, met with WTO Director-General Lami.

In September 2007, Wang Xinkui, President of SIFT and the Dean of IIB, delivered a lecture entitled “Expanding, Opening-up and Maintaining State Economic Security”, which put forward several constructive suggestions and recommendations at the 44th Collective Study Conference of Chinese Communist Party, Central Political Bureau chaired by President Hu Jintao.

In November 2007, IIB was approved and accredited as a key University Research Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences by the Shanghai Municipal Education Committee.

In May 2008, IIB in collaboration with the Research Center of Shanghai Municipal Government, co-organised the first forum on ‘The Construction and Development of the Center of Shanghai International Trade’.?

In October 2009, IIB established the Shanghai Municipal Social Science Innovation Research Center as well as the Workshop of Shanghai Development Strategy Research, commissioned and overseen by the Shanghai Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science and the Development Research Center of Shanghai Municipal Government.

Biography of a succession of Chairmen of IIB

Professor Wang Yaotian (1984-1994): the late well-known economist