On March 25th, 2021, Prof. Zhao Guoqing, Vice President, Jilin University, was invited to the “Rebuilding US-China Education and Exchange” conference, which was hosted by the China Education Association for International Exchange. Sixteen representatives from China and the US had an in-depth discussion online on the themes ofthe Current State of US-China Education Exchange, Issues Driving Restrictions on Inflow of Chinese Students to the US and American StudentstoChina, Impact of Deteriorating Bilateral Relations on Education Exchange:Perspectives from US and Chinese Universities,andPost-Pandemic US-China Education Exchange: The Future. Prof. Zhao Guoqing delivered a keynote speech on the theme ofImpact of Deteriorating Bilateral Relations on Education Exchange:Perspectives from US and Chinese Universities.The meeting was presided over by Zhang Xiuqin, Vice president, China Education Association for International Exchange, and David Michael Lampton, Director Emeritus of China Studies at Johns Hopkins University and Member of the Advisory Council, US-China Education Trust. Liu Limin, President, China Education Association for International Exchange, and Julia Chang Bloch, President, US-China Education Trust, made the summary speeches.
Zhao Guoqingobservedthat the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic downward pressure has inflicted severe challenges on international higher education cooperationand that, meanwhile, the past years have witnessed the most challenging situation of China-US relations, which consequently makes the cooperation of higher education institutions between China and the U.S.even more difficult. Even still, he continued,universities and colleges in China and the U.S. remain clear-headed andare working toactively enhance the bilateralcooperation.Prof. Zhaointroduced the 40-yearhistory ofcooperation and exchanges between JLU anditsAmerican partners, which haswitnessed theway in whichChina-US relationshaveforged ahead, andhe discussedmeasures of harnessing the benefits of medical care resources from JLU-affiliated hospitals to proactively fulfilthe university’smission in providing global service. He stated that JLU is as willingas everto join hands with U.S. partner universities with an open mind to further thecooperation for mutual benefit and make positive contributions to the well-being of thetwo peoples andtobuilding a community with a shared future for mankind.
The partnership established between JLUand Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,in 1979paveda path for JLU to conduct close cooperation with American partners, including University of Michigan, Ann Arbor;University of California, Los Angeles;University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;Georgia Institute of Technology; Emory University;Purdue University Calumet;University of Florida and22other universities.The cooperation has yielded fruitful results in faculty and student exchanges andinscientific research collaborations in multiple fields.
