On November 6, the 11th Council Meeting of Cooperative University Union was held at City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan). Leaders from 11 cooperative universities across China shared their institutional experience, exploring the mission and development path of cooperative universities in the new era and offering practical references for China's high-level opening-up and comprehensive reform in higher education.

Founded in June 2014 under the guidance of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education, the Union is a non-profit exchange mechanism comprising 11 independent legal-entity Sino-foreign cooperative universities (including the mainland and Hong Kong/Macao). It holds regular council meetings to pool the strength of cooperative education institutions, discuss common issues, build a discourse system for cooperative education, promote the development of China's cooperative education sector, and provide intellectual support for higher education reform and development.

Mr. Zhao Lei, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education, delivered a keynote speech. He noted that in recent years, cooperative universities have steadily improved in student quality, educational outcomes, institutional reputation and international influence, with growing social recognition. He noted that the Ministry of Education has designated "promoting higher-quality and more efficient development of Sino-foreign cooperative education" as one of the pilot initiatives under the Three-Year Action Plan for building China into a leading country in education. A package of policy breakthroughs is being rolled out for 11 cooperative universities. These include, for example, the inclusion of cooperative universities among eligible applicants for "recommended postgraduate admission" status for the first time in 2025; the optimization of the enrollment plan adjustment mechanism; the strengthening of independent postgraduate training capacity by exploring master's and doctoral degree-granting eligibility criteria tailored to cooperative universities; and the promotion of the establishment of postdoctoral research stations so that cooperative universities can fully leverage such stations as comprehensive platforms for attracting talent.

Participants engaged in in-depth exchanges and discussions through thematic reports and panel forums, focusing on issues such as distinctive development of cooperative education, differentiated talent cultivation, and industry-university-research collaborative innovation.

Prof. Mao Junfa, Chancellor of Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the meeting.

Dr. Queena Yi, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Development of GTIIT, focused on research-oriented teaching and explored practical ways to embed research training into curricula and connect laboratory platforms and faculty resources with undergraduate education.

At the rotating secretariat handover ceremony, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China assumed the role from City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan), completing the Union's first 11-year rotation cycle and launching a new one.

Text: City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan), GTIIT News & Public Affairs

Photos: City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan)