Strengthening links with China

Professor April McMahon receives a plaque from Professor Zhu Chongshi, President of Xiamen University at the reception hosted by Professor McMahon at Y Plas.

Aberystwyth University recently had the privilege of hosting a visit by a group of distinguished guests from China.

The prestigious delegation from Xiamen University included Professor Chongshi ZHU, President of Xiamen University; Mr Tongwen MAO, Director of International Exchange and Cooperation; Professor Jun LI, Dean of the School of Information Science and Technology; Professor Shide LING, Dean of the School of Architecture and Civil Engineering and Ms Hongbo YU, Section Chief for Exchange and Cooperation Programs and PA to the President.

Professor Aled Jones, Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor explains: “Xiamen University is one of China’s leading higher education institutions and is within the top 20 of 2236 universities in China.  It has, for many years, been one of the most prestigious universities in Asia with exceptionally high levels of research and teaching excellence across a wide range of subject areas.

 “Delegations from Aberystwyth have visited Xiamen on a number of occasions during the past two years and both institutions have actively been exploring areas of collaborative research in the fields of International Relations and Computer Science in particular. During the Xiamen delegation's visit to Aberystwyth, strong collaborative potential was also identified in Biological and Environmental Sciences, areas of Earth Science and Performance Studies.  We were particularly delighted to welcome such a distinguished delegation from Xiamen to Aberystwyth and we look forward to further academic exchanges between our two universities in the near future.”

The delegation was welcomed to Aberystwyth University by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor April McMahon and was introduced to key members of the University staff and students. Professor McMahon commented: “Our relationship with Xiamen University is particularly important to us in developing our international strategy and strengthening our academic, research and inter-faculty collaboration.  I sincerely hope that Professor Zhu and his colleagues enjoyed their visit to Aberystwyth as much as we enjoyed their company and look forward to working with them on a range of exciting and innovative projects.

“I shall be returning the favour and visiting Xiamen University in February 2012 when I hope to be able to continue our discussions and learn more about their fantastic Institution.”

The visit was arranged around a series of visits to Aberystwyth University’s departments and social functions with members of the Office of International Recruitment and Collaboration and Development and Alumni Relations in addition to events hosted by Chinese staff and students of the University.

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