On 24 December 2020, a meeting to celebrate the transformation and name change of Fujian Radio and TV University (Fujian RTVU) to Fujian Open University (Fujian OU) was held at the Fujian OU’s Guishan campus. Li Dejin, vice governor of Fujian Provincial People's Government, and Cao Guoyong, executive deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Open University of China (OUC), inaugurated Fujian OU and delivered speeches.

During the meeting, Lai Bitao, deputy secretary general of Fujian Provincial People's Government, read out the Written Reply from Fujian Provincial People's Government on Approving the Name Change of Fujian RTVU to Fujian Open University, marking the official name change, and signifying that the transformation and upgrading of Fujian RTVU, as well as the construction of Fujin OU, have both entered a new stage of development.

After the name change, the nature of Fujian OU (a provincial higher education institution engaged in undergraduate education), its subordination relationships, management system, and existing rights to run degree and non-degree education remain unchanged. As a regional centre of the OUC in Fujian, Fujian OU is a part of the OUC organisation system, which supervises and manages the educational affairs of Fujian OU. The affiliated radio and television universities of Fujian OU in cities, districts, and counties will also be renamed as open universities. After the renaming, the subordination relationship of these open universities in cities, districts, and counties will remain unchanged, with their administration and business management to be implemented according to the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan issued by the Ministry of Education.

In the more than 40 years since the establishment of Fujian OU in 1979, the university has cultivated more than 500,000 graduates with various academic degrees, and has trained a large number of application-oriented professional who are competitive and willing to serve local social and economic development.

With the renaming, Fujian OU will actively adapt to the digital, intelligent, lifelong, and integrated development trends of open education, and realise the “Four Transformations,” namely, the transformation from expansion to enhancement, from a focus on qualifications to one on knowledge, from providing degrees to enhancing skills, and from predominately online teaching to the integration of online and offline teaching. It will become a new type of higher education institution that brings together high-quality educational resources, is supported by modern information technology, is characterised by "Internet Plus,” provides continuing education and non-degree education for members of society, and serves lifelong learning of all the people. The university will develop into the main platform for lifelong and online education in Fujian Province, as well as a platform for flexible education and external cooperation. It will become an important force serving lifelong learning for all and offering strong support for a skilled society, and promote the formation of a learning society where “anyone can learn anytime and anywhere.”

By OUC News Network, reprinted from http://www.fjsen.com/