On the morning of March 10, 2023, Yang Yong, the deputy head of the Organisation Department of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and director of the Retired Cadres Bureau, led a delegation to visit the Open University of China (OUC) (the Seniors University of China) for exchanges and negotiations. Liu Chen, the deputy secretary of the university's Party Committee, attended the event and had in-depth discussions with Yang Yong and his team on elderly education and related work of the Seniors University of China (SUC).

 

Yang Yong pointed out that the establishment of SUC is a major strategic deployment made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council in actively responding to the background of an ageing population. Hebei University for the Aged was established in 1987 as a university organised by the Retired Cadres Bureau. It should actively carry out all-round cooperation with the SUC, become an important member of the SUC's education system, complement each other's advantages, develop in coordination, and jointly serve elderly comrades.

Liu Chen welcomed Yang Yong and his delegation on behalf of the OUC. He pointed out that we should deeply understand the political, social, and practical significance of establishing the SUC. They should conduct exchanges and cooperation with the elderly universities under the old cadres' bureau system and other institutions in terms of system building, resource sharing, information platform, activity organisation, teacher team building, and scientific research. They should provide service support and promote the development of elderly education together.

Zhao Wenhua, vice president of Hebei University for the Aged, introduced the university’s situation and achievements in the exchange, while Wei Peng, deputy director of the Office of Development and Comprehensive Management Office of the OUC’s University for Older Adults, reported on the development of OUC’s education for older adults.

Prior to the meeting, the delegation was accompanied by personnel from the OUC's University for Older Adults and the General Office of the Party and Administration to visit the OUC's "Internet+" University Operation Exhibition Centre, as well as the Seniors University of China's exhibition entitled "Opening a New Chapter in Education for Older Adults in China."

 

By Wei Peng, OUC