The 6th ASEAN-China Forum for Private Higher Education Development and Cooperation and the 4th Annual Meeting of the ASEAN-China Alliancefor Private Higher Education Institutions (ACAPHEI) was successfully held from November 14thto 15th,2024 at Sripatum University (SPU), Thailand. With the theme of “Fostering ASEAN-China Collaborationfor Sustainable Business Practices”, the forum attracted honored guests from 27 universities, enterprises and academia from 8 ASEAN-China countries to engage in-depth discussions on education cooperation and sustainable development. Dr. Lu Dan, CEO of Geely Talent Development Group, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Honorary President of the University of Sanya (USY), and Chairman of ACAPHEI, participated in the meetingonline, and Che Yi, Vice President of Geely Talent Group and Secretary General of ACAPHEI, attended the forum offline at SPU. On behalf of USY, Wang Dan, Executive President of the university, Geng Jing, Director of Scientific Research Office, Zhang Yuhong, Director of the International Department, and Yang Boxiong, Vice Dean of the School of Information and Intelligence Engineering attended the forum.
Dr. Lu Dan delivered speeches at the opening and closing ceremonies. In his opening speech, Dr. Lu Dan looked back on the solid foundation of cooperation between Chinese and ASEAN universities in the field of educational innovation and expressed his expectations for the broad prospects of cooperation between the two sides. He highlighted the crucial role of Geely Education's efforts in promoting sustainable development in education and business for development of regional higher education.Dr. Lu Dan looked forward to Geely Education continuing to leverage its expertise in education and contributing more to regional cooperation in higher education, especially in promoting China-ASEAN cooperation in sustainable business practices.At the closing ceremony of the forum and annual meeting, Dr. Lu Dan stressed the innovative concepts of establishing “Cross-Border campus”, “Cross-Regional campus” and “Parallel campus”, promoting new cooperation results through the mechanism of industry-education integration, online education platform, and AI-enabled Smart Agent Education, etc., and infusing new energy into diversified and intelligent development of higher education.
Che Yi, extended a speech at the ACAPHEI annual meeting, reviewing the history of cooperation and development since the establishment of ACAPHEI, theimportant documents signed by ACAPHEI, sharing the outcomes of the flagship projects, and affirming the close cooperation among the members of ACAPHEI as well as the important role playedin promoting the development of regional cooperation in higher education. In the next step action of ACAPHEI, Che Yi deployed and introduced the optimization of the alliance's liaison work mechanism, expansion of the alliance's member network, the planned internship cooperation projects, and the work objectivesin 2025.
During the forum, faculty and student representatives from USY actively engaged in open discussions and project presentations. Professor Wang Dan presided over the discussion sessions and delivered a speech on "Sustainable Development and University Talent Cultivation." Professor Wang emphasized the responsibility and role of higher education in cultivating talents capable of tackling the challenges of sustainable development against the backdrop of globalization. Dr. Geng Jing presented a speech titled "Development and Application of Remote Sensing Clound Platform" during theopen discussion. She reported on the development and application of the remote sensing cloud platform at Zhai Mingguo's Academicianworkstation of USY, as well as the research outcomes in monitoring and assessing the ecological quality of Hainan Island.
In the ACAPHEI Flagship Project Reporting Session, Dr. Yang Boxiong presented the outcomes of the collaborative research projects with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) in Malaysia, showcasing the achievements in the field of urban sustainability and resilience construction. Three student representatives from our university reported on their experiences participating in the ACAPHEI Student Mobility Program through the Xin Wei Platform, sharing the insights and experiences they gained during the cross-cultural learning process in the program's courses.
The successful hosting of the Forum and Annual Meeting has further deepened the cooperation and exchange between USY and private higher education institutions in China and ASEAN countries. USY looks forward to enhancing collaboration in education, research, and business with all parties in the future. USY will address the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization, continue to foster more inclusive, open, and innovative international exchanges and cooperation, and contribute to the sustainable development of higher education in the region and globally.