The Education Research Institute of the Open University of China (OUC) has been working together with other OUC sectors to strengthen exchanges with international open and distance educational organisations and open universities from around the world in order to promote international academic research — in particular, cooperative academic research with open universities along the Belt and Road routes — and expand the OUC’s influence in the field of international open and distance education.
On 12 April 2019, the Open University of China (OUC), Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, and Beijing International Institute of Asia-Europe Education and Culture (AEEC Institute Beijing) signed a supplementary educational cooperative agreement on a Sino-German Joint Master’s Degree Programme at the OUC’s Wukesong campus in Beijing.
The 32nd Annual Conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) was held in Hanoi, Vietnam from 24-26 October 2018. A delegation of six people led by Open University of China (OUC) vice president Lin Yu attended the conference.
On 28 September 2018, three representatives of Malaysian overseas Chinese leaders, Dato' Sri Ang Lai Hee JP, Datuk Wira Gan Tian Loo, and Dato Dr. Joseph Wang, conducted an exchange visit to the Open University of China (OUC).
On the 20th September, 2018, the 8th OUC-OUJ-KNOU International Seminar hosted by the Open University of China (OUC) and attended by representatives from the Open University of Japan (OUJ) and the Korea National Open University (KNOU) was held in Beijing.
The Chinese Language Centre of the Open University of China (OUC) is responsible for teaching Chinese language to overseas learners. It uses open and distance education to conduct Chinese language and culture instruction, develop multimedia teaching resources, and provide distance learner support services and related research. The Chinese Language Centre is staffed with 37 personnel, of whom 22 are professional teachers with overseas teaching experience or an overseas educational background.
On 19th October 2017, at the closing ceremony of the 2017 ICDE, general secretary of the ICDE Gard Titlestad presented the ICDE Institutional Prize of Excellence award to OUC president Yang Zhijian.
From 15-28th October 2017, a delegation of 14 full-time teachers from the Open University of China (OUC) led by deputy secretary of the OUC Party Committee, Liu Xianghong, visited the University of Toronto (UT) and Athabasca University (AU) in order to develop cooperation in scientific research and academic exchanges.