Cardiff forge closer links with Beijing

Memorandum of Understanding signed

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Cardiff and the Beijing Municipal Education Commission.

The signing ceremony was undertaken by the University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Elizabeth Treasure, and Beijing Municipal Education Commission's Deputy Director General, Huang Kan, at the School of Medicine's China Medical Research Collaboration (CCMRC).

The three-year mutual agreement between the two institutions aims to establish collaborative projects and activities which will enhance the development of each country. This will be achieved by:

• Education and training
• Technology and information transfer
• Basic and applied research
• Economic development

The MoU formalises:

• Collaborative exchange programmes where students from Beijing institutions will be selected to come and study at Cardiff
• Faculty, staff and student exchanges and training
• Educational programmes and activities of Chinese/English language teaching
• Conducting international conferences and other scholar activities
• Research, publishing academic papers and technology transfer

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Elizabeth Treasure said:

"It is a privilege to sign the MoU on behalf of Cardiff University to formalise relations with the Beijing Municipal Government. Cardiff University has already benefitted from fruitful activities with Beijing government institutions such as Capital Medical University and Beijing University of Technology. The signing of the MoU marks another step forward in what will continue to be a highly successful exchange of knowledge between the two countries for the benefit of all."

The Chinese delegation was hosted at CCMRC, where they were introduced to five exchange students from Capital Medical University who arrived in October 2014 for a six month placement.

The five students represent the first exchange between the two universities since the launch of the Joint Research Centre in 2013 and the signing of a 'Memorandum of Understanding' in October 2014. Two of the exchange students have been based at CCMRC and will return to Capital Medical University at the end of April 2015.