Admissions Officer
Washington College of Law
American University
44000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20016-618e

November 17,1997

Dear Colleague:

As Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Beijing University, probably China’s best higher learning institution, I am pleased to have this opportunity to recommend Ms. Xia Chongbai to you for acceptance into your law school.

I taught Ms. Xia in two of the courses that I have offered, the finance law of China and the international finance law, and had therefore many opportunities to observe her performance in her undergraduate years. A diligent student, she scored an average grade of over 80 on the 100-point scale, excelling most of her fellow students in her studies. In a strict grading system like ours, this represented a remarkable achievement.

Independent and intelligent, Ms. Xia exhibited exquisite analytical and organizational skills in both her coursework and beyond. With a powerful aptitude for languages, she is articulate in both English and Chinese. Although her English had much to be desired when she first entered into the university, she quickly improved it as she moved into upper years. Her English proficiency became so good in her third year that she won the rare opportunity, as one of the department’s ten chosen students, to take the course “American Administrative Law”, which was taught only in English by a visiting professor from the Columbia University law school. She passed the exam in that challenging course easily and achieved a grade of over 90, once again proving her intellectual caliber as a top student.

Upon graduation, she joined the Legal Department of the China South Industries Corporation, one of the country’s leading foreign trade companies. I was delighted to learn that she was practicing what I had taught her in class. I understand that she has been continuously improving both her legal expertise and English proficiency since her graduation. In 1993, she enrolled in the part-time program of Master of Laws in my faculty and now expects to be conferred her degree soon.

Now, sophisticated as a professional and mature as an individual, she has set her sights on still more advanced training, which she hopes to receive in your famous university. I understand this greatly appreciate it if you could favorably consider her application. Should I be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Pan Zhiwu
Professor of Law
LL. M. (Harvard) & Ph. D. (Beijing University)
Dean of the Faculty of Law
Beijing University