Nearly two dozen universities in China, Poland agree on cross-border collaboration to share resources and ideas

Universities in China and Poland have formed a consortium to share ideas and expertise.

The Sino-Polish University Consortium was established in Beijing on March 21 under the Belt and Road Initiative.

A total of 23 universities in Beijing, Chongqing and Poland have joined the group, which was first set up by Beijing University of Technology, Chongqing Jiaotong University and Poland's Opole University of Technology.

According to Liu Gonghui, president of Beijing University of Technology, the goal of the consortium is to boost cooperation and exchange personnel and other resources between universities in China and Central-East European countries, including Poland.

"Members of the consortium agree to work together to innovate and to improve standards of scientific research and quality of education," he says.

More higher education institutions in China and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, whether they are in Europe, Central, West or South Asia, are welcome to join the union, Liu says.

Marek Tukiendorf, president of Opole University of Technology, says he expects that universities and cities of China and Poland will benefit from output in economic development, cultural exchange and scientific cooperation brought about by the consortium.

The organization is not the first of its kind under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The New Silk Road University Alliance, launched in May 2015 by Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province, has so far attracted almost 130 members from 31 countries and regions.

The alliance aims to boost exchange and cooperation as well as nurture talents to serve the development of Eurasia and areas along the Silk Road Economic Belt.

In October 2015, a similar group called the Belt and Road Strategic Alliance of Universities was founded in Dunhuang, Gansu province, by more than 40 universities from China and abroad, including China's Fudan University, Beijing Normal University and Russia's Ural State University of Economics.

The Chinese government has paid great attention to the people-to-people exchanges, as well as to the educational cooperation with Central European countries, particularly since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

Four rounds of Sino-Central European dialogue on educational policies have been held since 2013 and have resulted in more students studying together and trying to understand each other.

The new consortium will continue to contribute to that cooperation, says Zheng Jichun, Party chief of Beijing University of Technology.

"In addition, the consortium will work to accelerate Chinese enterprises' strategy of going global by offering intellectual support and services in local languages, law, technologies and so on," he says.

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(China Daily European Weekly 03/24/2017 page3)