Seminar on the Innovation and Development of Cross-border Higher Education in Asia in the New Era Held

On December 28, 2023, the seminar on Innovation and Development of Cross-border Higher Education in Asia in the New Era, hosted by the Chinese Secretariat of CAMPUS Asia and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) and organized by the Faculty of Japanese Language and Culture at GDUFS, was successfully held in Guangzhou.

The Seminar was attended by leaders from the Education Quality Evaluation Agency of the Ministry of Education (EQEA), the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education, and the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS). Members of the Advisory Committee of the Chinese Secretariat of CAMPUS Asia, along with leaders, experts, and representatives from more than ten Chinese member universities of CAMPUS Asia, were also present. The opening ceremony and keynote speeches were presided over by Yang Xiaohui, Dean of the Faculty of Japanese Language and Culture at GDUFS.

The Seminar

He Chuantian, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC GDUFS and Vice President of GDUFS, delivered the opening speech. He extended a warm welcome to all the guests and expressed high praise for the CAMPUS Asia program. He introduced GDUFS’s international characteristics in discipline construction and talent cultivation, elaborating on the university’s efforts in implementing the CAMPUS Asia program. He expressed that the Seminar would facilitate exchanges and cooperation with universities with sub-programs, contributing to the innovation and development of the CAMPUS Asia program.

Opening Speech by He Chuantian

Wang Shuo, Deputy Chief of the Division of Evaluation Monitoring and Research of the EQEA, acknowledged the achievements of various sub-programs in his speech. He encouraged universities to provide talent and innovative support for regional peace and stability through high-quality development, realizing the goal of “becoming a qualified platform for cross-border higher education.”

Speech by Wang Shuo

Wang Yue, Program Officer of the Department of Socio-cultural Affairs of the TCS, reviewed the history of higher education cooperation and exchange among China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK), as well as the development of the CAMPUS Asia program. She expressed the TCS’s commitment to deepening cooperation with universities in alumni construction, cultural exchange, and other aspects to make greater contributions to the cultivation of more outstanding talents and regional integration.

Speech by Wang Yue

Chen Duoyou, Honorary Dean of the Faculty of Japanese Language and Culture at GDUFS, and Yuan Dayong, Deputy Dean of the Graduate School of Education of Beijing Foreign Studies University, delivered keynote speeches.

Keynote Speeches

Chen Duoyou detailed the development of the CAMPUS Asia model at GDUFS, emphasizing its diversified upgrading of educational models, student training models, brand-building effectiveness, and future plans. He expressed his willingness to lead the education in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area through a synergistic platform that involves various parties and proposed his expectations for creating an open and physical community of CAMPUS Asia.

Around the theme of “Regional Higher Education Cooperation from a Comparative Perspective,” Yuan Dayong sorted out various types of regional higher education cooperation worldwide and proposed possible solutions for regional higher education development. For the future innovation and development of CAMPUS Asia, he put forward the expectation of “focusing on Asia and facing the world, expanding the scope of in-depth cooperation, participating in global education governance, and planning the development model of Mode 4.”

In the afternoon, program representatives from Peking University, Fudan University, GDUFS, Hangzhou Dianzi University, East China Normal University, Shandong University, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Communication University of China discussed “the Construction of a Substantively Equivalent Credit Conversion System of CAMPUS Asia,” “Sharing Experience in ASEAN Cooperation of CAMPUS Asia,” and “Exchange Experience in Digital Construction of CAMPUS Asia.” Sun Lingyun, Dean of the International Design Institute of Zhejiang University, Xu Baiyu, Research Fellow at the International Cooperation Office of Peking University Health Science Center, and Zhang Ping, Assistant to the Dean of the School of International Relations & Public Affairs of Fudan University, presided over the sub-forums.

Hostess and Hosts of sub-forums

Representatives shared the development status of their respective CAMPUS Asia programs, highlighting explorations and characteristics in related fields. As they collectively recognized, over a decade witnessed CAMPUS Asia as a flagship program in China-Japan-ROK higher education. The CAMPUS Asia program has gained remarkable achievements in exchanges, mutual learning, and harmonious coexistence among Asian civilizations, and it has kept leading and driving educational cooperation and people-to-people exchanges in East Asia.

Speeches at sub-forums

In the closing remarks, Dong Zhaohua and Ma Lan, Deputy Secretary-Generals of the Chinese Secretariat of CAMPUS Asia, expressed sincere gratitude to the attending leaders, experts, scholars, and program representatives. They pledged to continue the mission of serving universities with sub-programs of CAMPUS Asia, foster exchanges and cooperation between the universities, and actively contribute to the construction of a cross-border higher education platform in Asia in the new era.

A group photo