​On the afternoon of May 13, 2015, H.E. Matan Vilnai, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the People's Republic of China, and Mr. Yaacov Avrahamy, Consul General of Israel in Guangzhou, visited Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU). Prof. Ma Jun, Vice President of SYSU met with the guests in the Administration Building on Zhuhai Campus, accompanied by Prof. Wang Bin, Academic & Administrative Supervisor of School of International Studies, and Dr. Zeng Ji, Director of Department of English (International Affairs), School of International Studies.

Prof. Ma Jun extended a warm welcome to H.E. Matan Vilnai, and introduced SYSU and the development planning of Zhuhai Campus. He thanked the Israeli Embassy and Consulates in China for their help in promoting the academic exchanges between SYSU and Israeli universities. He hoped that the two sides will expand fields of academic exchange and cooperation on the basis of existing collaborations.

H.E. Matan Vilnai thanked SYSU for the warm reception. He expressed that since the establishment of diplomatic relationship between Israel and China, bilateral relations have developed smoothly. Exchange and cooperation programs have been conducted to increase understanding between the people of the two countries. Israeli Embassy and Consulates in China will continue to keep close contact with SYSU. He hoped that Israeli universities and SYSU will have more opportunities of cooperation.

After the meeting H.E. Matan Vilnai delivered a lecture entitled “The Geopolitical Situation of Israel in Contemporary Middle East” in the Teaching Building on Zhuhai Campus. The lecture is part of the lecture series on Israeli Studies, jointly organized by the School of International Studies of SYSU and the Consulate General of Israel in Guangzhou.

H.E. Matan Vilnai took the post of Ambassador of the State of Israel to the People's Republic of China in August 2012. This is his first visit to SYSU.