This summer in Shanghai is likely to be intellectually
stimulating for 143 university presidents from around the world --
123 from the Chinese mainland, six from Hong Kong and 14 from
another 11 countries.
The presidents of almost all China's top-ranking universities
and presidents of renowned foreign institutes of learning --
including Britain's Cambridge University, Japan's Keio University
and the US universities of Stanford and Yale -- attended the
opening ceremony of the 3rd Chinese-Foreign University Presidents
Forum Wednesday night at the China Executive Leadership Academy in
Shanghai's Pudong New Area.
Minister of Education Zhou Ji presided at the opening ceremony
and said that he was delighted to welcome the forum to Shanghai --
China's most dynamic city. The previous two forums were both
convened in Beijing in 2002 and 2004.
The theme of the forum this year was "Innovation and the Service
of Universities".
During the seminars, 14 foreign university presidents will
deliver speeches explaining their experiences and understanding of
how these learning establishments can assist in society and overall
community economic development.
Minister of Education Zhou
Ji
The forum signifies China's determination to push ahead with its
plans for building up the nation's capacity for innovation and to
further improve the quality of universities after years of rapid
expansion in enrollment. In 2003 the number of students studying at
colleges and universities was 19 million. In 2004 alone 4 million
students were enrolled by colleges and universities.
As further education has become more accessible to a vast number
of students, Chinese universities are playing a significant role in
accelerating the country's development and are expected to do more.
Over the years Shanghai has produced an effective mechanism to
combine university education and research with the building of
economic development zones.
The universities of Tongji, Shanghai Jiaotong, Shanghai Maritime
and Shanghai Fisheries all participated in the planning and
construction of the Yangshan Port which is a deep-water facility
around the Yangshan isles to the east of Hangzhou Bay. This is
expected to help Shanghai become an international shipping
center.
As millions of Chinese students across the country who've just
passed the national entrance exam in June are now waiting to start
their university education in September, the heads of their
universities are busily engaged in intensive educational debates in
Shanghai with colleagues from home and abroad. There's little doubt
that the 3rd Chinese-Foreign University Presidents Forum will help
shape the university life of theses students and perhaps the future
of China's higher education.
The biennial event was initiated by State Councilor Chen Zhili when she served as minister of
education from 1998-2003.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Wind Gu, July 13, 2006)
