On the morning of June 26, a seminar on the high-quality development of Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions took place at China Jiliang University. The event brought together directors of international exchange offices and heads of Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions from a number of Zhejiang universities, including Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology and Hangzhou Normal University, to jointly explore paths for quality improvement, efficiency enhancement and distinctive development of Sino-foreign cooperative education. Lan Jingjing, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Office of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education, attended and guided the seminar. Mark Norrish, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Anglia Ruskin University, and Wang Binrui, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of China Jiliang University, were present. The seminar was presided over by Yang Yushu, Secretary of the General Party Branch of CJLU-ARU Joint Institute, China Jiliang University.

In his address, Wang Binrui noted that Sino-foreign cooperative education has entered a pivotal phase of high-quality development, brimming with fresh opportunities alongside emerging challenges. He stressed that we must be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the Party’s educational policy, and centre all efforts on the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education. We shall actively explore innovative models and pathways for Sino-foreign cooperative education. This seminar is designed to build a provincial exchange platform for all Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions across Zhejiang, enabling participants to align on industry consensus, exchange proven educational practices, resolve real-world operational hurdles, and pool collective insights to advance the development of education excellence at both provincial and national levels.

Tao Ying, Party Secretary of the Sussex Artificial Intelligence Institute, Zhejiang Gongshang University, delivered an invited keynote speech entitled Breaking Through the Encirclement, Delving Deep for Long-Term Progress: Practices and Explorations in High-Quality, Distinctive Development of Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education. Drawing on the institute’s on-the-ground educational practices, the address presented a systematic overview of its exploratory approaches and proven expertise in areas including Party-building leadership, the introduction and nurturing of premium educational resources, the development of integrated high-quality talent training models, and assessment protocols. It stimulated in-depth exchanges and lively, constructive discussions among all attendees.

Guo Guangchu, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Office of Communication University of Zhejiang, delivered a thematic speech covering six core practical dimensions of Sino-foreign cooperative education. He emphasized six key priorities: front-loaded Party building and ideological education, rigid implementation of compliance requirements, introduction of premium overseas resources, dual-party collaborative governance, full-chain delivery of talent training, and tiered risk prevention and control. These six pillars comprehensively support joint institutes to achieve high-quality connotative development.

Kang Juan, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Office of China Jiliang University, and Wang Jianqi, former Director of the office, shared insights on policy alignment and resource coordination in Sino-foreign cooperative education based on the university’s international exchange practices. Shan Liang, Dean of the CJLU-ARU Joint Institute, briefed attendees on the institute’s founding background, construction progress and future development plans. Participants held in-depth exchanges on key and difficult issues in the operation of Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions, sharing experience and reflections from their respective educational practices.

This seminar served as a valuable exchange platform for Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions across Zhejiang. It is highly meaningful for advancing the high-quality development of such programs and supporting Zhejiang’s goal of becoming a strong education province.