Zhejiang is an important intersection point where the maritime and land Silk Road converge. As a pioneer diligently exploring the development paths of China, Zhejiang now moves forward and holds out the olive branch to foreign students from partner countries along the Belt and Road by launching international education programs.

In 2018, there were more than 37,500 foreign university students studying in Zhejiang Province, which had increased by more than 16, 000 compared to 2013. Up to now, 14 official Chinese-foreign cooperative schools and 142 international educational programs cooperating with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have been officially registered in Zhejiang. In addition, 10 national and regional research centers, launched by 9 universities of Zhejiang, have been approved by the Ministry of Education, and most of those research centers are located in the partner countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Zhejiang also actively launches vocational training for students from the partner countries along the Belt and Road. Ningbo Polytechnic, the “First Vocational Training Base for Foreign Countries in China” recognized by the Ministry of Commerce, has held 115 international training courses covering the fields of automobile, industry, commercial culture for and successfully trained 2, 650 foreign officials and university teachers for 116 developing countries across five continents. 

Zhang Huibo, the president of Ningbo Polytechnic, looks forward to the educational prospect with great expectation by stating that Chinese vocational education will keep up with and bring more vitality to industrial updates and enterprise transitions.

The benefits of the BRI flow to all partner countries, including meeting their urgent desires of talents. Hopefully, the deepened Chinese-foreign cooperative education will build the reputation of Zhejiang and ultimately across the globe.

(Executive Editor: Yongliu HE)