From 13-17 October 2019, at the invitation of the Organising Committee of the annual conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU), a delegation of five people, from the Open University of China (OUC), including Shi Yunzhi, Chen Siming, Hu Zhengwei, Guo Zhijun, and Wei Fangfang, visited Lahore, Pakistan, to attend the 33rd AAOU annual conference.

The annual conference, entitled "Open Distance Learning:2020 and Beyond,” attracted more than 400 experts and scholars from different countries and regions in Asia. Ms. Wei Fangfang's paper was shortlisted for the Best Practice Award. Dr. Yang Zhijian, former Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the OUC, won a 2019 AAOU Meritorious Service Award. The OUC was also re-elected as a member of the new executive committee.

Dr. Melinda dP. Bandalaria, president of the AAOU, Professor Naeem Taria, rector of the Virtual University of Pakistan (VUP), Professor Masroor Ellahi Babar, Conference Chair, as well as famous experts and scholars from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Canada, Germany, and South Africa gave keynote speeches on the development status, trends, and vision and mission of open education, focusing on the theme of the conference.

Five parallel sessions were set up at the annual conference, with the themes ODL Practices and Prospects, Educational Technology and Technology in Education, Assessment and Evaluation, Quality Assurance for Operational Excellence, and Innovative Pedagogies in E-Learning. The delegates from the OUC attended all the keynote speeches and actively participated in the academic exchange activities in the parallel sessions.

By Hu Zhengwei, OUC