ZJU contributes to “Belt and Road” Education Action Plan

Aiming high, participating actively and sharing openly

On April 25-26, the second Belt and Road Forum is hosted in Beijing, which takes stock of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) five years on and draw a new roadmap for the coming years. As an important part of BRI,“Belt and Road” Education Action Plan was published by Ministry of Education in 2016, which shows China’s determination to work with and expand people-to-people exchanges, strengthen cooperation in the cultivation of talent, and together create a bright future for education. 

Since the launch of the action plan, Zhejiang University has been responding actively by cementing ties with 30-plus universities and research institutes in BRI countries in terms of talent cultivation, research cooperation, intellectual support and cultural dissemination, and making every endeavor to construct a shared community of education and science.

Specialized talents cultivated in an innovative and cooperative manner.

In 2018 alone, 2,920 international students from 57 BRI countries, accounting for 41.4% of the total number of international students, pursued their studies at ZJU.

-The allocation of resources is optimized to build an influential education base for BRI international students. The BRI College is set up to implement the specialized administration of talent cultivation with a strong focus on high-end development.  

-With the establishment of the International Alliance of Engineering Education for the Belt and Road Initiative, high priority is given to the cultivation of engineering talents in BRI countries. built a global shared community of engineering education and spurred China’s engineering technologies and criteria to “go global”.  

-More international students are enrolled in a series of superb programs, including Chinese Studies, Clinical Medicine and Oceanography. Accreditation criteria on diplomas and degrees are promoted, thus helping cultivate a wide spectrum of specialized talents for BRI countries.  

Scientific and technological innovation centered and achievements shared.

A platform for scientific and technological dialogues has been set up.

-A batch of academic activities, such as the Maritime Silk Road Summit, the China-Portuguese Ocean Forum and the International Conference on the Law of the Sea, are hosted to strength cooperation with BRI countries regarding marine science and technology, maritime economic and technological cooperation as well as the sustainable utilization of ocean resources.  

-Several joint research platforms are built, including the China-Indonesia Marine Science and Technology Center, the China-Indonesia Joint Laboratory for Biotechnology and the Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Institute for Traditional Medicine. ZJU actively participated in major government projects, and responded positively to challenges and opportunities in the domains of ecology, energy, population, health and cultural heritage.  

-We joined China-CEEC Hospital Cooperation Alliance to promote medical collaboration. The work of healthcare foreign aid is strengthened, which introduced cutting-edge medical technology and elite doctors into such countries as Hungary, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Five liver transplants have successfully been performed in Indonesia.

The construction of the think-tank bolstered to resolve practical problems

Initiators of the Dispute Resolution Mechanism for the Belt and Road is published on the strength of legal systems and cultural features in 30-plus BRI countries, which offers suggestions on how to settle relevant disputes.

- Several think-tanks are constructed to conduct basic, strategic and prospective research into major theories and issues concerning BRI cooperation and development, and provided high-caliber intellectual support. They are the BRI Research Center, the Innovation Center for BRI Cooperation & Development, and Ningbo CEEC Cooperation Institute.

-The Maritime Silk Road Shipping Big Data Center is established together with Ningbo Shipping Exchange Co., Ltd. As of May 2017, we have released the report on the Maritime Silk Road Trade Index at www.yidaiyilu.gov.cn on a monthly basis.  

-A databank for the Road and Belt Investment Environment and Integrated Development Index is also built to create a think-tank for investment and trade.

We stressed people-to-people exchanges.

So far, cooperative agreements with 35 universities in 11 BRI countries have been signed.

-We hosted the International Outlook Summit on a regular basis, co-organized the 2nd Exchange Mechanism Conference of CPEC Consortium of China-Pakistan Universities with China Association of Higher Education, and promoted synergy in information, projects, talents and funds.  

-A series of academic books are published on the Silk Road and Dunhuang. The University works together with overseas universities in archaeological research, and promoted collaborative research into cultural heritage preservation with BRI countries.  

-Zhiyuan Overseas Action Plan is launched to explore exchange programs and channels with universities in BRI countries.