On September 10th, Kurt Allman, the Executive Vice-Chancellor of the   the Edge Hill University , led a delegation to visit our university. Both parties engaged in in-depth and pragmatic exchanges on topics such as inter-university collaborative development and the preparation of Chinese-foreign cooperative educational institutions, and jointly signed a cooperation agreement. Chen Yiwang, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the university, and Luo Shihua, the Vice  Presiden attended the negotiation meeting. Responsible comrades from the International Cooperation and Exchange Office, the Undergraduate College, the Graduate College, the School of Mathematics and Computer Science, the School of Physics and Electronic Information, and the School of Economics, Management and Law also participated in the meeting.

On behalf of the school, Chen Yiwang extended a warm welcome to the delegation from Edge Hill University for their visit from afar. He pointed out that the two schools had conducted multiple rounds of consultations through online meetings in the early stage, reaching important cooperation consensuses. This face-to-face exchange has laid a solid foundation for deepening bilateral collaboration and promoting the implementation of cooperation projects. He said that Edge Hill University, founded in 1885, is a well-known teacher training institution in the UK, and its teacher education characteristics are highly compatible with our university. He looked forward to the two universities taking this negotiation as a new starting point, focusing on deepening pragmatic cooperation in areas such as joint talent cultivation, scientific research, teacher training, and cultural exchange, promoting resource complementarity and mutual empowerment, and jointly creating a distinctive model of Sino-British local university education and cultural exchange.

Kurt Allman expressed his gratitude for the warm reception from our university and gave a detailed introduction to the educational characteristics, disciplinary strengths, and international development layout of Edge Hill University. He spoke highly of the preparatory work carried out by both universities in the early stages and was full of expectations for the joint establishment of a Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution. He hoped that both parties would continue to strengthen communication and coordination, fully leverage the disciplinary strengths of both universities, jointly enhance the quality of talent cultivation, and continuously explore new spaces for Sino-British higher education cooperation.

At the meeting, participants fully exchanged views on the progress of application for cooperative institutions, the layout of professional co-construction, the allocation of Chinese and foreign teachers, the refinement of talent training programs, key work time nodes, and other contents, further consolidating ideological consensus and refining and implementing various work measures. At the event, representatives from both universities jointly signed a cooperation agreement.

This negotiation effectively consolidated the foundation of cooperation between the two universities, clarified the key tasks for the next stage, and laid a solid foundation for the subsequent application and preparation of the Chinese-foreign cooperative education institution. It will vigorously promote the high-quality development of the international education.