XJTLU International Education Partnership Forum explores international talent development

03 Jun 2025

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University held an International Education Partnership Forum in Beijing on 18 May to explore the benefits and challenges of global talent development through international education exchanges and cooperation.

In her opening remarks, Professor Qiuling Chao, Vice President for Student Affairs and Information at XJTLU, said the University has a firm commitment to internationalisation. XJTLU cooperates with universities around the world for teaching, research, cultural exchanges, student activities, short- and long-term degree programmes, and more, she said.

Professor Qiuling Chao

Shaping education

In his keynote speech, Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, said the University aims to foster world citizens, and future experts and leaders with its three models of education. The 1.0 model upgrades traditional education, combining the best practices of East and West; the 2.0 model sees academia collaborating with industry partners to provide students with a broad understanding of industry leadership, entrepreneurship, and cross-cultural leadership; and the 3.0 model unites education, industry and society to create an ecosystem that will nurture innovation.

“We wanted to develop a new shape of education – future education – and we use this new shape to change the direction of education and help it follow future development trends,” Professor Xi said of the models. “Society needs more talents who can stand on the shoulders of technology platforms, who can work with AI and robots to create a new way of life and to develop new talents.”

Furthermore, Professor Xi said, the XJTLU Learning Mall supports lifelong learning for XJTLU students, alumni, and the public.

Professor Youmin Xi

“The Learning Mall integrates resources from the whole world to support our students and to support learners from different countries,” he said.

While the University has long promoted internationalisation, the stakes are higher today, he said.

“Given the currently turbulent world, it is very important for us to develop XJTLU as a global university,” he said.

Professor Xi said that XJTLU has a Central and Eastern Europe Centre in Hungary and plans extend its reach to other parts of the world.

China-Africa cooperation

Ambassador of Malawi to China Allan Joseph Chintedza spoke at the forum on the strong cooperation between China and countries in Africa, including Malawi. He said that at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2024, leaders agreed that China would assist African countries in capacity building through talent training, as a crucial component and enabler to modernisation and development.

Ambassador of Malawi to China Allan Joseph Chintedza

Ambassador Chintedza said that like many other countries on the African continent, access to university education in Malawi is limited due to factors such as inadequate infrastructure. Malawi has the lowest rates of tertiary education enrollment in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region. Malawi’s gross enrollment rate is 0.4% as compared to sub-Saharan countries’ 8.2% average enrollment. Of about 200,000 prospective students seeking places at universities in Malawi, only 5,000 will be eligible, with most seeking distance learning opportunities and international university places outside Malawi.

During the event, the ambassador highlighted the importance of increasing access by establishing an international university, like XJTLU, with high enrollment capacity to serve not only Malawi but the Southern African Development Community region, ensuring that students from the African Countries are not left behind.

Malawi and XJTLU have been discussing a possible partnership to incorporate the future-oriented vision embodied by XJTLU which resonates with Malawi’s vision for developing the higher education sector.

Friendship across borders

In his talk, Professor Ben Hillman, Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University, said that the centre and XJTLU have begun a new joint programme. Under the programme, Australian university graduates come to XJTLU for one year to study Chinese and take electives on China’s history, economy, culture, and society.

“Understanding a place like China and learning Chinese really requires an investment of time and effort that’s often not able to be accommodated within a typical three- or four-year bachelor’s degree programme,” Professor Hillman said.

Professor Ben Hillman, Australian National University

The centre will send 50 Australian graduates to XJTLU over the next four years, he said; five students began the programme in February.

“I visited them last month, and they are having a wonderful time,” Professor Hillman said. “It’s great that they’re able to study alongside Chinese students and to make friends, because their lived experience outside the classroom, I think, is equally important as what they do in class for their personal and professional development.”

‘Bedrock of education’

XJTLU alumnus Chukwuemeka Victor Okeagu spoke about how XJTLU influenced his future. Okeagu, who is from Nigeria, teaches high school students at the Western Academy of Beijing.

When he began his master’s study in financial mathematics at XJTLU, his dream was to be a stockbroker for the Nigerian Stock Exchange, he said. However, an XJTLU teaching assistant internship and another opportunity to mentor students in mathematics helped him realise his passion for education.

“The students were always eager for knowledge, eager to learn.”

XJTLU alumnus Chukwuemeka Victor Okeagu

These experiences gave Okeagu the push to pursue a purpose – educating students so that they can succeed and contribute to society.

“I started focusing on making an impact,” he said. “And as we speak, I’ve taught over 1,500 students of different nationalities,” he said.

Okeagu said in his work with a diverse student community, he has been able to apply the educational philosophies of XJTU in his teaching, including fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and lifelong learning.

“These are things that are the bedrock of education,” he said.

Need for global thinking

In an interview after the talks, Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Togo in China, Tchaa Batchassi Gnama, said the forum offered the opportunity to consider important topics. He said that his country needs talent with perspectives that are gained by studying internationally.

In the past, Togo exported raw material, he said, but now the country is trying to launch industry to transform the material there. “We need more qualified young people to run all these programmes,” he said. “We need new thinking.”