Stephen Schwarzman, the billionaire founder of private equity giant Blackstone, is spearheading a drive to create an elite international education programme in China modelled on the 111-year-old Rhodes Scholarship.
The $300m (£200m) ‘Schwarzman Scholars’ initiative, which is being supported by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, will see 200 foreign postgraduate students sent to study in China each year.
Mr Schwarzman is donating $100m of his own money, while a fundraising campaign is under way to raise another $200m, making the project the “largest charitable effort in China’s history”, organisers said.
The education programme is inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship, which was created in 1902 using funds donated by British statesman Cecil J. Rhodes to help gifted foreign students study at Oxford University.
Mr Schwarzman said he hopes the scheme, which will see students spend a year at Tsinghua University in Beijing, will “foster stronger and deeper relationships” between China and the West.
“China’s economy is growing at three times the rate of the West, and if that growth continues, China will become the largest economy in the world within the next couple of decades.
Disproportionate levels of growth often create global imbalances and tensions, which will need to be addressed in the decades ahead,” he said.
Mr Schwarzman said he is concerned that China’s growth may lead to a backlash from the rest of the world resulting in trade, economic and even military conflicts.
“There will be unhappy people in the West watching a country grow at multiples of what they’re achieving. That will express itself in trade, economic and maybe even military-type problems.”
He added that the West must develop “a far richer and more nuanced understanding of China’s social, political and economic context.
A win-win relationship of mutual respect between the West and China is vital, benefiting Asia and the rest of the world, and enhancing economic ties that could lead to a new era of mutual prosperity”.
Students will be selected on the basis of “academic ability, creativity and future leadership potential in various fields”.
“When they go back home, these very qualified, high performance kids will be able to interpret what’s happening in China and maybe even influence behaviour. We’ll have 10,000 of these students over a lifetime -that’s a decent number of really gifted people if we choose wisely.
If we hit a few like [former US President and Rhodes Scholar] Bill Clinton that become influential people on the world stage, we can really make a difference.”
So far, $100m has been secured for the project from external backers including BP, Boeing, Caterpillar, Bank of America and Credit Suisse.
Funding should be completed within six months, Mr Schwarzman said, with the first class due to begin in June 2016.
The scheme’s advisory board includes Mr Blair, former US Secretary of States Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
telegraph.co.uk
The $300m (£200m) ‘Schwarzman Scholars’ initiative, which is being supported by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, will see 200 foreign postgraduate students sent to study in China each year.
Mr Schwarzman is donating $100m of his own money, while a fundraising campaign is under way to raise another $200m, making the project the “largest charitable effort in China’s history”, organisers said.
The education programme is inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship, which was created in 1902 using funds donated by British statesman Cecil J. Rhodes to help gifted foreign students study at Oxford University.
Mr Schwarzman said he hopes the scheme, which will see students spend a year at Tsinghua University in Beijing, will “foster stronger and deeper relationships” between China and the West.
“China’s economy is growing at three times the rate of the West, and if that growth continues, China will become the largest economy in the world within the next couple of decades.
Disproportionate levels of growth often create global imbalances and tensions, which will need to be addressed in the decades ahead,” he said.
Mr Schwarzman said he is concerned that China’s growth may lead to a backlash from the rest of the world resulting in trade, economic and even military conflicts.
“There will be unhappy people in the West watching a country grow at multiples of what they’re achieving. That will express itself in trade, economic and maybe even military-type problems.”
He added that the West must develop “a far richer and more nuanced understanding of China’s social, political and economic context.
A win-win relationship of mutual respect between the West and China is vital, benefiting Asia and the rest of the world, and enhancing economic ties that could lead to a new era of mutual prosperity”.
Students will be selected on the basis of “academic ability, creativity and future leadership potential in various fields”.
“When they go back home, these very qualified, high performance kids will be able to interpret what’s happening in China and maybe even influence behaviour. We’ll have 10,000 of these students over a lifetime -that’s a decent number of really gifted people if we choose wisely.
If we hit a few like [former US President and Rhodes Scholar] Bill Clinton that become influential people on the world stage, we can really make a difference.”
So far, $100m has been secured for the project from external backers including BP, Boeing, Caterpillar, Bank of America and Credit Suisse.
Funding should be completed within six months, Mr Schwarzman said, with the first class due to begin in June 2016.
The scheme’s advisory board includes Mr Blair, former US Secretary of States Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
telegraph.co.uk
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