On the morning of January 5, 2026, President Cheng Shuqiang of our college and Yang Hua, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Office, visited the Center for International Cultural Exchange (CICE) of the Ministry of Education. The two sides held fruitful discussions on deepening cooperation and jointly building a high-level integrated platform for cultural exchange and vocational education. They were received by Yu Changxue, Director of the Center, Zhong Yong, Deputy Director of the Major Projects and Activities Office, and other relevant officials. This meeting not only marked a deep integration of our institution’s internationalization strategy with the national mechanism for cultural exchange, but also opened up new resource channels and strategic perspectives for serving the Belt and Road Initiative.
At the beginning of the meeting, Director Yu Changxue extended a warm welcome to the delegation and systematically introduced the mission and functions of the Center. He noted that the CICE, established in 2017 as an institution directly under the Ministry of Education, serves as a core agency for coordinating and implementing international cultural exchanges at the national level. It is committed to providing comprehensive support, including policy research, platform building, project coordination, and resource integration, to various stakeholders, including higher education institutions. He emphasized that vocational education plays a key role in promoting people-to-people connectivity and mutual learning of technical skills between China and other countries. The Center highly anticipates collaborating with pioneering and distinctive institutions like ours to translate national strategies into concrete and impactful projects, creating replicable and scalable models of cooperation.
President Cheng Shuqiang expressed gratitude for the recognition and support from Director Yu and the Center, and highlighted the institution’s educational heritage and internationalization efforts. He elaborated on the institution’s development philosophy of “open-door education, open development, and internationalized operations,” as well as its unique advantages in serving the Belt and Road Initiative. He introduced the internationalization framework built around three pillars: “bringing in, going global, and international student education,” which has created an open ecosystem characterized by internal-external synergy and two-way interaction. In terms of “bringing in,” the institution’s jointly established Sino-foreign cooperative education entity, the “Jeonbuk College,” in partnership with Jeonbuk National University of South Korea, operates smoothly and serves as a vital window for introducing high-quality overseas educational resources and fostering innovative talent development models. In terms of “going global,” the institution has successfully implemented the “China-Kazakhstan Qinling Workshop” project to serve the Belt and Road Initiative and has secured approval for the national-level “Friendship College” project, laying a critical foundation for systematic overseas operations and the internationalization of professional standards. Meanwhile, the institution has steadily advanced international student education by actively expanding enrollment channels and diversifying course offerings, fostering a multicultural and inclusive campus environment that strengthens cultural exchanges among youth from China and abroad.
A key outcome of the discussions was the shared focus on the field of finance, business, and trade, where both sides explored in depth and reached a consensus on co-establishing an “Industry Research Institute for International Cultural Exchange.” The institute aims to support the five key functions of higher education: talent cultivation, scientific research, cultural heritage preservation, social service, and international cooperation and exchange. President Cheng proposed that the institute could leverage the institution’s professional strengths to conduct cutting-edge research in areas such as the digital economy and cross-border commerce, supporting domestic enterprises in their global expansion and fostering joint efforts between academia and industry to promote the international dissemination of Chinese culture. Director Yu highly endorsed this vision, noting that the project aligns precisely with industry needs and the core objectives of cultural exchange. He assured that the Center would provide robust support in policy guidance, expert resources, and international network connections to jointly develop the institute into a flagship achievement.
The meeting concluded in a pragmatic and forward-looking atmosphere. Both sides agreed to establish a regular communication mechanism and to formulate a concrete plan for co-establishing the industry research institute as soon as possible, accelerating the pace of cooperation. This visit represents a pivotal “knock on the door” and “strategic link” in the institution’s internationalization journey. It not only brings a series of potential high-level collaborative projects but also signifies a profound transformation in the institution’s open development—from “independent exploration” to “syncing with national strategies,” and from “isolated breakthroughs” to “systematic and platform-based operations.” Starting from this new chapter of collaboration, a distinctive high-level vocational institution and a national-level open platform are joining hands to collectively chart a grand vision for serving the new development paradigm and promoting mutual learning among civilizations.
