In August 2026, a 13-member practice group under Shanghai Jiao Tong University's (SJTU) Global Competence Program set out on a six-day transnational research tour in Singapore. Led by Professor Wang Yuxia of the School of Foreign Languages and Yu Min, Director of the Office of External Cooperation and Exchange, the delegation brought together eleven outstanding students from nine schools: the School of Foreign Languages, the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the School of Psychology, the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, the Antai College of Economics and Management, the School of Electrical Engineering, the School of Biomedical Engineering, the School of Integrated Circuits, and the School of Education. Under the theme "Exploring Global Competence for a New Era: AI-Empowered Technology and Humanities, Corporate Globalization, and the Overseas Dissemination of Governance Ideas," the group visited an alumni enterprise, the Bank of China (Singapore Branch), and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Singapore, called on Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore, and went deep into local communities and streets.
Digital Innovation Empowering Chinese Enterprises to Go Global
On the afternoon of August 3, the group made its first stop at Ruoshui Asset Management Co., Ltd., an alumnus-founded firm, exploring how digital innovation supports Chinese tech companies going global and how globalized organizations build long-term competitiveness.
Welcomed by Shi Feng, Vice President of the SJTU Singapore Alumni Association, and Yan Li, co-founder and CEO of Ruoshui, the delegation heard how the company evolved from digital assets into a global multi-asset platform built on openness, steadfastness, excellence, and altruism, guided by the philosophy that "like water that never contends, it ultimately becomes the sea." Wang Yuxia thanked the alumni, noting that "to see the world is to understand one's worldview" — field research tempers the global competence of young people. Student Tao Chang concluded that going global is not merely a refinement of technology and algorithms: openness and altruism are the underlying forces that keep an enterprise sailing steadily and far.
Financial Support: Charting the Course for Chinese Enterprises Abroad
On the morning of August 4, the group visited the Bank of China (Singapore Branch) for a study on international financial solutions for Chinese enterprises going global. Through business exchanges, a history tour, and interviews, the students learned about the bank's nearly 90 years in Singapore, its global network, and China-Singapore financial cooperation, where green finance and carbon markets are opening new financing opportunities.
The visit made clear that enterprises abroad need more than loans: they need full life-cycle services spanning cross-border fund flows, credit transformation, trade settlement, exchange-rate management, compliance, and green transition. Student Wang Yibo said the trip showed him China's financial enterprises developing overseas in a comprehensive and long-term manner, and offered a glimpse of the RMB's rising voice in the global financial system.
Supported by the SJTU Singapore Graduate School, with Deputy Dean Xu Min accompanying the group, the visit showed that globalization is both a compulsory task for enterprises and a key subject for youth development.
A Diplomatic Window for Mutual Learning
On the afternoon of August 4, the group visited the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Singapore, learning about the embassy's structure, Singapore's education system, and China-Singapore educational exchange, observing how Singapore responds to the talent needs of the technological era. Student Xiao Kai said conversations with education officials Wang Yong and Shi Hui, who introduced Singaporean universities and encouraged the students to embrace local multiculturalism, left him deeply impressed by the idea of "appreciating the beauty of others and sharing the beauty of all."
Universities in Dialogue: Technology and Humanities Advancing Together
On August 6, the group visited NTU, touring the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information and the innovation center for research on AI and the technology-humanities nexus and interdisciplinary talent cultivation. At the Wee Kim Wee School, Dean Professor Qiu Linchuan introduced the school's AI-era discipline layout, noting that AI is not only an industrial system but has entered the cultural ecosystem and daily teaching, and that understanding it requires attention to technology, institutions, platforms, and human experience alike. Wang Yuxia presented SJTU's explorations in language science, language data, cognitive science, and AI-assisted teaching, and encouraged the students to form their own judgments. Faculty and students then exchanged views with NTU scholars on AI-era curriculum design, learning assessment, media forms, and governance responsibility; the scholars advised judicious use of AI to amplify the human voice and urged students to step out of the "small screen" and learn in the real world.
At the innovation center, Julia Wang, head of the global entrepreneurship program, introduced Singapore's research, innovation, and enterprise plans, NTU's industry collaboration and incubation mechanisms, and a joint SJTU-NTU technology transfer platform.
Student Bi Jiahao said he now understands that "the true value of a university lies both in cultivating people who ask good questions and in building ecosystems where answers can take root."
Tracing Chinese Narratives in Overseas Reading Spaces
Against the backdrop of Singapore's 61st National Day and the 36th anniversary of China-Singapore diplomatic relations, the group investigated how China's governance ideas are received by local readers, using libraries and bookstores as windows. The survey covered three libraries, including the Chinatown library, and fourteen bookstores, including Popular Bookstore, Youlian Bookstore, and Grassroots Book Room, across central, western, and southern Singapore. The findings showed a visible presence of Chinese governance books in Singapore's reading spaces: over 35 percent of bookstores stocked such titles, half of which displayed "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" and its English edition, along with "Selected Letters of Xi Jinping" and "Xi Jinping and Young University Students," while Chinese literary works such as "The Three-Body Problem" are increasingly available. Student Yin Yitian said the visits strengthened her conviction that Chinese governance ideas and literature are entering the daily view of overseas readers, deepening her determination to tell China's story from a youth perspective.
Learning Through Action, Reaching Far Through Exchange
The six-day itinerary was compact and its topics rich. From an alumni enterprise and a Chinese financial institution to the embassy, NTU, and Singapore's bookstores, the group broadened its horizons across corporate, academic, and diplomatic settings, sharpening its six key competencies. The students agreed to keep digesting what they had learned, deepen their attachment to the motherland, expand their global vision, and contribute the youthful strength of SJTU to telling China's story and enhancing the country's soft power.