News

28 Jun 2020

SHARE THIS

Fudan 2020 Graduation Star: Filip Filipovic

Filip Filipovic, a Serbian student majoring in political science at Fudan, wins the title of “Graduation Star” of the university for 2020.

Recently, Fudan University announced its 2020 Graduation Stars. The title “Graduation Star” is presented each year to 10 students graduating with a bachelor’s degree who have shown their all-round excellence during their time at Fudan. This year, Filip Filipovic, a Serbian student from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, is the only foreign student winning the title. 

Filip Filipovic

Adapting at Fudan

Having entered Fudan, Filip quickly blended himself in the new environment. He made friends at Fudan with many Chinese and international students. As the head of the class, Filip organized activities such as a Mid-Autumn Festival gala and a class concert. He is also a sports enthusiast, bonding with like-minded Chinese students at various sports competitions.

Filip performs at the class concert.

Filip plays basketball with Chinese teammates.

Filip is keen to help other international students adapt themselves to their life in China. He did his fellow students favors such as helping them with course selection and translating class notes into English for them.

To facilitate the exchange between Chinese and foreign students within the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, he ran for a position in the school’s student union and ended up becoming the vice president. 

Later he also served as the vice director of international affairs in the Fudan University Student Union and continued his cross-cultural communication work at the university level. 

Studying political science at Fudan

While bonding with local students, Filip believes that if one wants to truly understand China, one must understand the logic and ideas behind the governance of China. 

He wrote papers on the Balkans and China. He made analytical reports for Chinese research institutes and enterprises. He also translated for Serbian scholars Chinese documents, including excerpts from Xi Jinping: the Governance of China and some of Xi’s speeches. In 2018, he participated in a seminar held by the school that centered on issues discussed at the 19th National Congress of China.

In addition to academic research and discussions, Filip deepened his understanding of China by going out to attend various activities that would enhance his knowledge in China’s governance system. 

He visited the conference venue for holding Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress and engaged in a role-playing simulation of the congress. On May 3, 2018, he was a sitting delegate at the 15th Shanghai Municipal Youth League Congress, participating in the city’s political agenda with his Chinese peers. 

His dedication to political science earned him the title of Outstanding Model Student of Fudan University, China Development Bank Distinguished International Student Scholarship and Fudan University Boxue Scholarship.

Promoting Serbia-Chinese friendship 

For Filip, understanding Chinese culture and its underlying political foundation is not enough. He believes that more importantly, countries need to learn to cooperate and move toward common prosperity. 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, “China and Serbia has a rock-solid friendship. Serbia firmly supports and will continue to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative which is benefiting the Serbians and the rest of the world.” Filip shares the same vision and hopes to do more to contribute to this strong link between China and Serbia with his expertise in international relations and global governance. 

In 2017 and 2018, he participated in the preparation of the Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance (YICMG), an annual competition which provides a platform for students across the globe to discuss sub-regional issues and carry out co-curricular learning. He organized a special session at Expo 2017 Astana, gathering Youth across the globe to talk about the Belt and Road Initiative. He shared his observations of how rural governance were conducted in different parts of China on Chongming Island, an administrative area of Shanghai municipality located in the east estuary of the Yangtze River. 

In 2019, Filip volunteered to work for the organization of the 2nd Conference for the Union of School of Politics and International Relations (USPIR). As a study-abroad student at Fudan, he contacted and invited Dr. Darko Nadic, vice dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade to the conference.

Amid the pandemic, Filip worked as an intern at the Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia in Shanghai, trying his best to help relieve the impact of the coronavirus. His responsibilities include making arrangements for the donations to Serbia, assisting the Serbian government and enterprises to purchase medical supplies from China, translating documents for customs clearance and communication with Chinese institutions, etc. 

He was deeply touched by the support and care from non-governmental groups. “When the pandemic was the most serious, we received nearly a thousand boxes of supplies from China’s civil community, which made me more steadfast in my determination to become a bridge of communication between China and Serbia.”

Filip serves as an interpreter at a meeting at the Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia in Shanghai.

Filip helps load medical supplies.

Filip also concluded that all theories of political and social science must be tested by time. He said frankly, “Before this global public health crisis, many countries were confident with their governance capabilities and emergency responses, but practical problems still came up which led us to reconsider our current governance frameworks and make prudent decisions.” 

The pandemic made Filip more aware of the responsibilities his generation shoulders. Studying international relations has taught him to see the world from different perspectives. In the future, Filip will continue to study at Fudan for a master’s degree. 

With the irresistible trend of increasing interactions among different countries, students like Filip equipped with the necessary knowledge have been offered great opportunities to work for the betterment of nations and regions.


Editor: Deng Jianguo, Li Yijie

Author:Zhou BingqianEditor:Photograph:Illustrator: