On the morning of December 16, 2020, the 11th National Annual Conference of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools was held online, with the theme of “High-quality development of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools in the 14th Five-Year Plan period”. This conference is supported by the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education, co-hosted by the Center of Research on Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools of Xiamen University (CRCFCRS)  (a theoretical research base, policy consultation platform and center of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools of the Ministry of Education), Department of Education of Guizhou Province as well as Branch for Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools of China Association of Higher Education (BCFCRS, CAHE), and organized by Guizhou University. The conference also serves as the 5th Annual Academic Conference of BCFCRS, CAHE. A session was organized by Lingnan Normal University (LNU) in the No. 2 Conference Room, presided over by Dai Shu, Vice President of LNU.

In the conference, Lin Jinhui, Chairman of the conference, Director of the CRCFCRS, Xiamen University and Chairman of BCFCRS, CAHE, presided over the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech on behalf of the organizing committee. He gave a speech entitled “Intensify Reform Efforts to Serve the New Development Pattern with High-Quality Construction of Chinese-foreign Cooperation in Running Schools”. Mao Dongmin, Director of School Running Division, Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education, made a speech centering on “Inheritance, Reflection and Development” of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools. She raised the existing issues and challenges faced by this education model, and made recommendations to promote the connotative development of it in the new era. Representatives from the Ministry of Education and schools carrying out Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools also made keynote speeches on educational and cultural exchanges between China and other countries, reform of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools, cooperation in school running and education in the post COVID-19 epidemic era, party building and ideological and political work, school-running model and operation mechanism, school-running evaluation, as well as governance system and regulation innovation.

Some related staff of LNU also attended the conference, including Zheng Zhijun ( Director of the International Exchange & Cooperation Office), Yang Zijiang ( Director of the Department of Planning and Regulations), Gu Lei (Deputy Director of Finance Department (presiding)), Li Zishen (Deputy Director of the International Exchange & Cooperation Office), Ou Haiqing (Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Food Science and Engineering), and Yang Shengyuan (Deputy Dean of the School of Food Science and Engineering (presiding). They also had a discussion on the tuition management of the Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run program in Education of Culinary and Nutrition of LNU. This would urge the parties involved to further expand the first Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run program on of LNU.

At the conference (photographed by Li Jiaxuan)

Note: Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools is an integral part of China’s education undertakings, and it has achieved practical results during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Up to now, there are 2,332 Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run programs and institutions approved by the authority and in operation. Among those at the undergraduate level or above, there are 10 institutions that possess the qualifications of a legal person and 125 do not, together with 1,096 programs. On the whole, higher education institutions and programs (including vocational schools) cooperatively run by Chinese and foreign partners account for about 90% of the total number of cooperatively-run institutions and programs; the number of students enrolled in Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run programs is about 0.6 million, among whom about 0.55 million are enrolled students in higher education institutions, and more than 2 million students have graduated. The China-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools in higher education involve more than 200 majors in 11 disciplines, including economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management and art. The involving parties cover 36 countries and regions, including more than 800 foreign universities and more than 700 Chinese universities.