Justin Yifu Lin (left), dean of South-South Institute Cooperation and Development Institute at Peking University, awards diplomas to graduates in July in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Institute a platform for nations to study different economic models The South-South Cooperation and Development Institute at Peking University hosted its first graduation ceremony on July 6 in Beijing.

Twenty-six government officials, including 10 women, from 16 developing countries who have finished their master's program attended the ceremony and talked about their experiences at the university.

The institute is a platform for developing countries to discuss different economic development models, a place to exchange ideas about how to eliminate poverty and achieve modernization.

The institute was established in April last year, after President Xi Jinping declared the plan to open such an institute at the High-level Roundtable on South-South Cooperation co-hosted by China and the United Nations at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept 26, 2015. It is to deepen the cooperation between China and the other developing countries from support on finance and engineering to communication on development of intelligence and ideas.

The curriculum design of the institute is economics-centered, oriented toward problem-solving, but at the same time, covers quantitative analysis, political systems, public relations, leadership skills and globalization.

Awan Andrew Riak, an official from South Sudan who studied for a year at the institute, says: "When you look back at African history, we haven't gone anywhere since our independence in the 1960s. But the South-South institute has now provided us with a chance to establish the North-South dialogue, and our inspirations will move our people.

"With South-South, we believe that we are looking critically into the challenges that we face, and we are looking into the relevant solutions.