Developing links with China

A delegation from China is embarking on a 12 week professional development programme to learn more about leadership and management in Higher Education.

Delivered by senior staff from across the University, the course has been commissioned by the China Scholarship Council and is the result of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2015 between Cardiff University and the China Scholarship Council, in the presence of China’s Vice Premier, Madame Liu Yandong during her visit in Wales.

During the programme, university mid and senior-level leaders from across China will find out more about university change programmes, managing human resources, leadership style, developing academic teams and how to elicit and reward high performance.

Examples of best practice from Cardiff University will be used across the programme, which will be a mixture of presentations from the University’s Professional Services, teaching delivered by Cardiff Business School and the University’s Human Resources team, and English language tuition.

The programme also includes a tour of the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, a state-of-the-art facility recently opened by Her Majesty the Queen, visits to other universities and Welsh organisations, including the Welsh Assembly.

Professor Elizabeth Treasure hosted the welcome dinner for the delegation and said: “We are delighted to welcome you all from so many distinguished universities from across China, including Xiamen University – one of Cardiff’s two global strategic partners. We look forward to nurturing new relationships and partnerships with you.”

The welcome dinner was also attended by Minister Counsellor Shen Yang from the Embassy of China.  In his opening remarks he thanked Cardiff University for developing the programme and wished all delegates well with their studies and the opportunities they have to explore deeper cooperation between China and UK universities.

The University has a long-standing relationship with China with 47 formal academic links and strategic partnership agreements with universities across the country for both research collaboration and student exchange.

An increasing number of student exchange agreements with Chinese partner universities are being developed, with the number of outbound students travelling from Cardiff to China rising.

The University’s partnership with the China Scholarship Council stretches back several years and has seen scholars progress from postgraduate studies into senior academic positions.