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At the conference, Dr. Li Yansong, Assistant President of Peking University and
Director of Office of International Relations (PKUOIR), expressed warm welcome to
honorable guests on behalf of the sponsor, and hoped that this roundtable could
serve as an effective platform for open and free discussion of issues relevant to the
higher education field, and promote the development of higher education.
Former Vice Minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng, Executive Vice Director of the
Institute of Education (IOE) of Tsinghua University Shi Jinghuan, and Professor of
Beijing Normal University Wang Yingjie made keynote speeches in succession. Mr.
Zhang introduced the development of higher education in China since 1980s,
stressed the situation of international exchange and cooperation in higher education
field, and expressed his opinions on overseas student projects, interschool
cooperation, and regional coordination. Prof. Shi Jinghuan explained how to
evaluate and improve the quality of undergraduate education through case study.
Prof. Wang, as the first domestically-trained Doctor of Comparative Education in
China, shared his views with representatives on the division of disciplines, and
allocation of education resources.
Centering on the keynote speeches at the roundtable, presidents from universities
around the world had a heated discussion, agreeing that no country was exempt
from the challenge brought forward by the internationalization and globalization of
higher education, which required proactive adjustment from every university and
enhanced mutual dialogues. Representative from Oxford University pointed out that
internationalization of university resulted in the influx of foreign students, having an
impact on local students to a certain extent, while representative from University of
Copenhagen claimed the total of local students studying abroad and foreign students
recruited should maintain a balance. Dr. Zhu Hong, lecturer at PKUGSE, indicated
that in the process of globalization, universities should comply with the principle of
equality and cooperation, and those of developing countries, in particular, should
establish their own academic and cultural position and benefit from it.
Representatives also had discussions of the trend of commercialization in education,
the relationship between government and university, etc.
In the morning, presidents attending IARU‘s annual meeting together planted five
magnolias outside the conference hall, showing the wish for long-standing
development of cooperation between universities as well as concept of sustainable
and low-carbon campus, and leaving special scenery in the beautiful Yanyuan
Campus. Students from PKU‘s Sustainable Development Association participated in
the tree-planting activity.
About PKU Center for International Higher Education:
Under the guidance of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges
of China‘s Ministry of Education, supported by PKU‘s Graduate School of Education
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