China’s elite universities come to Exeter

In recognition of the University of Exeter’s investment and resources in developing new partnerships in mainland China, the University was invited to host delegates identified by the Ministry of Education as leaders of influence in China’s elite institutions.

Delegates attended seminars on how Exeter is internationalising the University as part of its new International Exeter initiative, before visiting facilities in the Schools of Biosciences, Business, and Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

Professor Steve Smith, Vice Chancellor of the University of Exeter said, “We are honoured to host such a prestigious delegation of Chinese academics and to demonstrate to them how we are investing to internationalise our University. A key part of our strategy to achieve this ambition is a move to build and sustain partnerships with top quality research institutions in China.” 

He added, “The higher education sector in the UK welcomes China’s moves to internationalise its own university sector.  We both benefit from greater collaboration.  Particularly in the sciences, successful projects are often the result of a large number of researchers working together. No one institution or country is likely to have all the answers, so international collaboration is absolutely necessary.”   

Director of International Exeter, Dr Shaun Curtis, said “China is vital to Exeter’s internationalisation strategy and we have established research partnerships with Fudan University, Chinese University of Political Science and Law, East China Normal University and Tsinghua University in recent years.  We are also in early negotiations with the China Britain Business Council to open representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai in 2010 to strengthen these partnerships further.”

The delegation consisted of the following:

Xiuxin DENG, President, Huazhong Agricultural University (Leader of the delegation)
Fang LU, Assistant to the President, Fudan
Jun FAN, Vice President, East China Normal University
Huaide MA, Vice President, China University of Political Science and Law
Binglin WANG, Vice Chairman of University Committee, Beijing Normal University
Huilin YANG, Vice President, Renmin University
Xiaoji PENG, Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, Beijing Sports University
Yaqing FENG, Vice President, Tianjin University
Hongkai LAI, Vice President, Xiamen University
Guangjun ZHANG, Vice President, Beihang University
Xinghua TONG, Vice Chairman of University Committee, Shandong University
Xiangnong LI, Vice President, Huazhong Normal University
Jian GENG, Assistant to the President, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Xiang XU, Vice President, Nanjing Agricultural University
Guotai HUANG, Vice Chairman of University Committee, Hainan University
Renzhong DING, Vice President, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics
Canming YANG, Vice President, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law
Dekuan HUANG, President, Anhui University
Xiaoying ZHANG, Vice Chairman of University Committee, Hefei University of Technology
Xiaocun WANG, Vice Chairman of University Committee, Zhejiang University of Technology
Junzhan XIE, Vice President, Chang'an University
Xiankun ZHONG, Cadre, Ministry of Education Division
Guoqing YANG, Director, The Retired Cadres Office of State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs
Lishe WANG, Section Director, China International Talent Exchange Foundation