(Michele Geraci, Former Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development) 

Michele Geraci, Former Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, has returned to China and will resume his teaching post as Professor of Practice in Economic Policy at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). In the upcoming fall term, he will teach a new module named China and the Global Economy. 

Michele first joined UNNC in 2012. He was appointed as Undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and took leave from UNNC in 2018. He was also nominated as a candidate for Prime Minister of Italy in 2018. During his tenure, Michele was one of the key officials drafting the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding and helped to push Italy to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Early in 2020, he urged the globe to “stand together” in the face of the pandemic and boosted international collaboration between China and Italy.  

While speaking of the motivation to return to China, Michele said that in his view the government needs to be in closer contact with academic institutions to get input from their research and policy advice, and he hopes to bridge this gap and be a channel.  

"I worked on practical and policy-oriented work during my ten years in China. I tried to feed not only Chinese policymakers but also to the Italian and Western governments, but it was not easy. When I took on my role (as the Italian Under-Secretary for Economic Development), I also set up a working group aimed at studying the Chinese economy so that our Italian companies could be better placed to do business with their Chinese counterparts.  

"Now, starting this semester, I invite all colleagues and students who are interested in offering their contributions to Italy's development and Italy-China relations to get in touch with me as soon as possible.” 

In addition to this, Michele decided to return to campus because teaching has always been one of his passions. He hopes that the new module China and the Global Economy will unite many diverse elements. 

"Every week we will look at the news that impacts China and the world economy, for example, the US-China trade tensions, the role of the RMB in the international markets, technology, 5G and of course the Belt and Road, and why I decided that Italy join the Belt and Road. Students will get first-hand stories," he said.   

Michele Geraci is one of the numerous academics that overcame various difficulties caused by COVID-19 and still decided to come back to campus.  

(Edited by Ye Ke)