Mr. Indrananda Abeysekara, founding chairman of the Association for Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation (ASLCSCC) and vice president of the Organization for South Asian Regional Friendship & Cooperation with China, visited Chengdu University (CDU) on the afternoon of April 10, 2023. Dong Guohua, Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange of Sichuan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, accompanied Mr. Abeysekara during this visit. Peng Xiaolin,Vice President of CDU met the guests at CDU’s VIP Hall.
Ms. Peng extended a warm welcome to Mr. Abeysekara and briefly introduced the recent development of CDU. She said that CDU has made great progress in discipline development, talent training, and international exchanges in recent years. CDU regards internationalization as one of the three major development strategies and insists on the opening up of education, while actively building its international reputation in recent years with continuous improvements in international cooperation and exchange. It is hoped that with the sincere support of Mr. Abeysekara, cultural communication and educational cooperation among higher education institutions in China and Sri Lanka can be promoted, so that the two-way exchanges of young people in both countries can be further fostered.
Mr. Abeysekara expressed his gratitude for CDU's hospitality during his visit. He mentioned that it has been three years since his last visit to CDU, which had seen rapid development in campus construction, discipline development, scientific research cooperation, and other aspects. He also mentioned that ASLCSCC, as an exchange and cooperation platform between China and Sri Lanka, will actively build a cooperation platform between CDU and high-quality higher education resources in Sri Lanka. It is expected that CDU and universities in Sri Lanka will jointly carry out educational and cultural activities, such as youth camps and partnerships of sister institutes to promote friendly exchanges between the youth of the two countries.
After the meeting, the guests visited the Athletes’ Village for the 31st FISU Summer World University Games 2021, the Center for Student Affairs, and the Entrepreneurship College. Yin Ping, a third-level researcher of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange of Sichuan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, was also in company with Mr. Abeysekara's visit. Relevant heads of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange and the Youth League Committee of CDU shared their ideas during the meeting.
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Indrananda Abeysekara, born on April 13, 1958, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is a graduate of Nalanda College, Thomas Aquinas College, and the University of Colombo. He served in the Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs, the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, and the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment of Sri Lanka; later, he assumed his office as Chairman of Sri Lanka China Silk Road Consulting Company and Sri Lanka China Silk Road Cultural Business Development Co., Ltd. Also, he was appointed foreign expert of China Radio International and a broadcasting consultant in Sinhala. In 1994, the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of China granted him the medal and certificate of Friendship Award on China's National Day; in 2004, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries awarded him the title of "Friendship Ambassador". In 2009, he was honored with a memorial medal for disaster relief after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2011, he won the title "Honorary Teacher" at Beijing Foreign Studies University. In 2020, he was appointed "Special Guest Director Overseas" by the Sichuan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
