Michele Geraci, former undersecretary of state at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Michele Geraci, former undersecretary of state at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, has returned to China and will continue teaching economic policy at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), according to a report from UNNC on Sept 11.

Geraci was assistant professor of finance and head of the China Economic Policy Program at UNNC between 2012 and 2018. He was also adjunct professor at the Hangzhou-based Zhejiang University (2009-2018) and New York University Shanghai (2016-2018).

In 2018, Geraci was appointed as undersecretary of state at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and took a leave of absence from UNNC. He was also nominated as a candidate for Prime Minister of Italy in 2018. During his tenure, Geraci was among the key officials working to draft the Sino-Italian cooperation memorandum on the Belt and Road Initiative. Geraci also called on Italy to learn from China's experience and strengthen bilateral cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Geraci recently flew from Paris to Shanghai and is currently staying at a designated hotel for a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Geraci attributed his decision to return to China to his passion for teaching in addition to wanting to forge closer ties between academics and policymakers on issues such as Italy-China relations.

Geraci will offer a new module, China and the Global Economy, at UNNC this semester. "Every week we will look at news that impacts China and the world economy, for example, US-China trade tensions, the role of the RMB in the international markets, technology, 5G and of course the Belt and Road, as well as why I decided that Italy should join the Belt and Road. Students will get exposure to first-hand stories," he explained.

UNNC, based in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, is the first Sino-foreign university to open in China. It was co-founded by the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom and Zhejiang Wanli Education Group in 2004.