On Sept 24, the "2026 Sichuan - UK Higher Education Exchange Meeting ", co-hosted by the Education Department of Sichuan Province and the British Consulate-General in Chongqing and organized by Chengdu University, was held in Conference Room 1002 of the Academic Exchange Center. The event aimed to deepen exchanges between Sichuan and the UK in the field of higher education, and further promote pragmatic cooperation between the two sides in cooperative education, talent training, scientific research innovation and academic resource sharing.
Ju Nengpan, Deputy Director-General of the Education Department of Sichuan Province; Anthony Preston, Consul General of the UK in Chongqing；Zhou Ying, President of CDU; and Ma Sheng, Vice President of CDU, attended the event and delivered speeches. Representatives from 18 universities in the UK, as well as university leaders in charge of foreign affairs and heads of foreign affairs departments of several universities in Sichuan, also attended the event.
In his speech, Ju Nengpan pointed out that China-UK education cooperation is one of the most dynamic and resilient part of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. The UK has become an important partner country for Sichuan in its opening up of higher education. He hoped that the two sides would focus on connotation quality improvement, two-way connectivity, and cutting-edge empowerment to promote the deepening and solidification of Sichuan-UK higher education cooperation.
Anthony Preston said that the UK government attaches great importance to higher education cooperation with Sichuan, and the British Consulate-General in Chongqing will continue to play a bridging role to promote more achievements in cooperative education, teacher and student exchanges and other fields between the two sides.
Zhou Ying gave an overall introduction of CDU and its achievements in education and administration. He said that CDU has always regarded internationalization as a key development strategy. The UK is one of the most important international partners of the university, and education cooperation with the UK serves as a shining example of the university’s internationalization efforts . At Stirling College—jointly established by Chengdu University and the University of Stirling — the rate of progression to postgraduate study for the Class of 2026 reached 84%, and the joint master's degree programme was officially launched in September this year. In addition, CDU’s cooperation with Oxford Brookes University is being accelerated, and the UK "Mandarin Excellence Programme" Summer Camp in China has been held at CDU for three consecutive years. CDU looks forward to deepening long-term cooperation with UK higher education institutions, translating framework agreements into concrete education projects, enabling more staff and students to benefit from international education resources, and continuing to forge bonds of mutual learning among civilizations through educational exchanges.
In the keynote speech session, Wang Lasha, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Division, Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, and Li Rui, Director Southwest China, British Council, delivered presentations on the current situation and next steps of Chinese-foreign cooperative education in Sichuan, and on development trend of Chinese-British cooperative education, respectively.
In the case sharing session, representatives from Glasgow College, UESTC, SWJTU-Leeds Joint School, and CQMU - University of Leicester Joint Institute, Chongqing Medical University shared their experiences on student support systems, sustainable development paths, and institutional management.
On the afternoon of the same day, the British universities introduced their cooperation needs in turn, and conducted one-on-one exchanges with Chinese universities, reaching preliminary cooperation intentions on cooperation models, mutual visits by staff and students, and student exchanges.
Through policy interpretation, case analysis and open discussions, this event effectively promoted mutual learning and exchange between the higher education sectors of Sichuan and the UK. All parties present said that they would take this event as a new starting point to continue advancing high-quality development of cooperative education between higher institutions in Sichuan and the UK.
Editor: Min Xiuling Executive editor: Lyu Jia
