On March 26, the 2016 China-Egypt University Presidents Forum and China Higher Education Fairs were held in Cairo University, Egypt. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong attended the closing ceremony and cut the ribbon for the exhibition. Zhang Rong, president of SDU, delivered a keynote speech at the forum and gave a concluding remark as the representative of Chinese university presidents. Zhang and Gaber Nassar, president of Cairo University, signed intercollegiate cooperation agreements at the forum.

Before the closing ceremony, Liu cut the ribbon for Chinese Higher Education Fairs and visited the exhibition spot. At the SDU’s exhibition booth, Liu listened to reports on SDU international students affairs presented by Zhang, and asked the recruitment of African students, hoping SDU can keep doing well in international student affairs.

This year, the forum centered on "The Belt and Road Initiative and China-Egypt people-to-people exchange" and four main issues were under discussion, including "ancient civilized society and modernization", "youth exchange and culture understanding", "scientific research cooperation and technology innovations" and "internationalization and localization of universities". In the speech of "Youth Exchange and Culture Understanding", Zhang employed several examples to convey that culture has an ever-lasting profound influence on society and youth are filled with potential and creativity. He also illustrated that Shandong University had made an enormous effort to promote global civilization dialogue as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges. He remarked that the act that Chinese people and Arab people inherited the legacy of ancient Silk Road and promoted the construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative" will definitely forge a tight bond between two sides. It will encourage young people from both countries to exchange ideas, deepen mutual understanding, develop together and maintain close friendship for generations. Zhang presented a brief review of the four topics in his concluding speech, expressing his anticipation of keeping the friendship between China and Egypt and yielding the fruits of President Xi's visit to Egypt on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Egypt diplomatic relations. The year of 2016 belongs to the cultural exchanges between two sides, and it is highly advocated that universities and colleges in both countries, who witness and undertake the responsibility of China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership, join together to promote education cooperation and culture exchanges in different forms.

Nearly 40 prestigious universities from China and Egypt attended this forum. During the forum, Zhang Rong and Gaber Nassar signedIntercollegiate Cooperation Agreementwhich offers cooperation opportunities on student and staff exchange, scientific research and information exchange. Furthermore, in an interview with Middle East branch ofPeople's Daily, Zhang gave answers to questions like China-Egypt culture and education exchange mechanism and future cooperative plans with other Egyptian universities.

Source: view.sdu.edu.cn

Translated by Sun Yuanyuan, Li Wenwen

Photo by: Zhang Jiaqi

Edited by Zhao Yan