On April 13th, MA Wenhui (Vice President of KUST), LONG Wei (Deputy Director of the Foreign Exchange and Cooperation Division of Yunnan Provincial Department of Education), PENG Zhiyuan (Vice President of Southwest Forestry University), and SUN Haiqing (Vice President of Yunnan Agricultural University) were invited by Yunnan Radio and TV Station to discuss the speed-up of the internationalization of higher education in Yunnan Province.

MA Wenhui introducedhow the KUST carried out foreign exchange and cooperation from the following four aspects: internationalization ineducational ideas, teaching staff, pedagogy, and scientific research.

First, in terms of idea internationalization in educational ideas,the internationalization strategy was an important development strategy during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period of the university, and the university attached great importance to foreign exchanges and cooperation. It serves the national “Belt and Road” Initiative by focusing on international cooperation in production capacity between China and African countries. With the support of the China Scholarship Council, KUST offered a “scholarship class along the silk road” to train African students. The class achieved goodresults and won the second prize in the National Higher Education Teaching Achievement Awards. KUST actively collaborates with Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries to build Kunming asa powerhouse of China’s opening-up to South Asia and Southeast Asia. For example, together with key enterprises in Yunnan,KUST cooperated with Cambodia to set up a "civil aviation class along the Belt and Road", which used part of the donation received from the Hong Kong Chi Wah Foundation Limited last year to the class.

Second, in terms of internationalizing teaching staff, KUST adopts the integrated approach to “bringing in” and “going out.” Whilebringing in foreign experts,KUST sent its teachers and administrators to study abroad. The pandemic could not stopKUST from going out. Last year, with the support of the provincial Department of Education, KUST sent more than 100 teachers toShanghaiTongji University to study the German "dual system" of vocational education, achieving good results. In future steps, KUST will strive to make this mode a highlight of foreign cooperation for the university and even for Yunnan Province during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

Third, in terms of international scientific and technological cooperation, KUST will continue to strengthen international academic exchanges and cooperation with developed countries, and encourage teachers to establish academician workstations and joint laboratories with foreign experts. For example, MA Wenhui established a joint laboratory with Tokyo University. At the same time, the university will continue to serve the two strategies ofYunnan province:“a powerhouse of China’s opening-up to South Asia and Southeast Asia" and "going out of key industries". For example, the university and the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Laos established the "China-Laos New Technology Research Center for Energy and Mines," focusing on the three standards of the modern industrial system: product analysis and quality evaluation, and talent training, in order to enhance the ability of the university in building the powerhouse of China’s opening-up to South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Fourth, in terms of pedagogic internationalization, KUST focuses on Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools in recent years, striving toenable students to enjoy international high-quality teaching resources without going abroad. At the same time, the university pays special attention to the development of network teaching resources in the post-pandemic era.

MA Wenhui also talked about how KUST strengthened foreign exchange and cooperation in the following three aspects.

First, KUST made friends all over the world to promote win-win partnerships.

KUST signed cooperation agreements with more than 110 universities and scientific research institutions in over 30 countries and regions in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania;

KUST built two Confucius Institutes (classrooms) in Denmark and Laos. The Bachelor's Degree in Chinese applied by Confucius Institute of Souphanouvong University in Laos has been approved by the Ministry of Education and Sports of Laos, and the first 50 students have been enrolled in this program;

KUST established three overseas colleges in Thailand;

KUST led the establishment of the Yunnan-Thailand University Alliance and is the founding member and the Vice President Unit of Alliance of China-Thailand Universities (ACTU);

KUST is the only representative of Chinese colleges and universities in the founding member schools of Greater Mekong Sub-region Academic and Research Consortium (GMSARN).

A bilateral or multilateral network for exchange and cooperation has been created through various agreements, projects, platforms, organizations and personnel exchanges.

Second, KUSTopened the university to enhance the international level.

KUST made remarkable progress in the internationalization of its faculty and made historic breakthroughs in attracting talent and investment from overseas.

A foreign expert was granted the Yunnan Friendship Award, the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award and the Chinese Government’s Friendship Award;

KUST received a donation of 35 million yuan from Hong Kong Chi Wah Foundation Limited;

KUST cooperated with the University of Arkansas and the University of Idaho to set up undergraduate degrees inthe two majors:logistics engineering and civil engineering. The major of logistics engineering cooperated with the University of Arkansas has been selected as the High-Quality Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education Project in Yunnan Province;

KUSThas 7 international science and technology cooperation base approved at national, provincial and ministerial level;

KUST has cooperated with famous universities in the US, Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, Australia, Japan and other countries to set up undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. programs. International talent training began to take shape. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, 1988 students of KUST participated in various overseas exchange programs to enrich their global experience.

In 2018, KUST was awarded the second prize in the National Higher Education Teaching Achievements Award with the theme of international talent training.

To build a brand of "studying abroad in KUST", the university has totally recruited nearly 10,000 students from 78 countries in five continents. The scale of international undergraduate students and graduate students rank 78th and 52nd respectively in China.

KUST transferred over 70 international technology projects to more than 10 countries, including the US, the UK, Russia, Australia and Spain, and provided service to more than 500 enterprises, with the social and economic value of over 10 billion yuan.

Third, KUST has continuously strengthened international participation andenhancepeople-to-people ties. The university has innovated its working style.

KUST has held the "High-Quality Chinese Language Program for Thai High School Students in China" for 8 consecutive years.

KUST has heldthe Lancang-Mekong Friendship Games for College Students (The Kunming Culture and Sports Week for College Students from South and Southeast Asian Countries) for five consecutive years.

The New Year Gala of Sino-Foreign Teachers and Students is held every year.

The ASEAN Studies Center, registered by the Ministry of Education, carries out national and regional studies, actively promotes cultural exchanges and people-to-people bonds between China and the rest of the world.

Translated by: CAI Siqing, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures

Edited by: ZHANG Wei, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures (English)

Source:Division of Overseas Cooperation

Issued by: Division of Overseas Cooperation (English)

Edited by: KUST News Center (Chinese)