On 6 January 2022, the Open University of China (OUC) and China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) signed a framework strategic-cooperation agreement.
Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the OUC, and vice–chair and secretary-general of the CEAIE, Wang Yongli, signed the agreement, while OUC vice president Fan Xianrui, CEAIE deputy secretary-general Yu Yougen, and other personnel attended.
At the meeting, Jing Degang introduced the history, scale and positioning of the OUC, highlighting the implementation of its Comprehensive Reform Plan approved by the Party Group of the Ministry of Education. The OUC has been promoting the "Four Transformations" (from seeking quantity to strengthening quality, a focus on qualifications to one on knowledge, providing degrees to enhancing skills, and prioritising online teaching to integrating it with offline teaching) and building "four platforms" (for lifelong education, online education, flexible education, and international cooperation) to develop a world-class open university. He said that the OUC and CEAIE have the same roots, and 30 years of friendly cooperation, with the formal establishment of this strategic partnership a new milestone in the relationship of the two sides, and an important step toward building an "international cooperation platform". The international development of the OUC has been aided by the support of the CEAIE.
Jing Degang pointed out that internationalisation is a strategy the OUC intends to continue pursuing, and suggested the sides work together in terms of joint training between the OUC and foreign institutions at the master’s and doctoral levels, the construction of OUC learning centres in Africa and "Belt and Road" countries, cooperation between China and foreign countries in vocational undergraduate education, international development of education of older adults, and cooperation with UNESCO in organising the Global Forum of Open University Presidents.
Wang Yongli praised the establishment of this strategic partnership as a great way to usher in 2022. He introduced the development of the CEAIE over the past 40 years and spoke of its future in terms of private cooperation networks inside and outside the country, platforms to promote cooperation between institutions, and centres for quality certification, capacity enhancement, exchanges of teachers and students, so as to serve the development for institutions and education opening-up.
Yu Yougen described the cooperation between the CEAIE and OUC, including seminars on internationalisation and the practice of distance and open education, bidding for the first training centres for deans of vocational schools, sending OUC teachers for overseas training, participating in the founding of the LuBan Workshop Alliance and BRICS Alliance for Vocational Education, carrying out training for teachers and students in Africa, and certifying standards for foreign education.
On the basis of this agreement, the two sides will deepen cooperation, share resources, collaborate and innovate, and develop international training together, sending out visiting groups, training vocational-college principals, setting up international exchanges of teachers and students, building platforms for internationalisation, and cooperating in Chinese and foreign-language exchanges, so as to take part in the "Belt and Road" initiative and contribute to the building of a community with a shared future.
By OUC