China visit strengthens partnerships and reputation

Vice-Chancellor Robert Van de Noort visited China in September for valuable meetings and events with partner institutions, new transnational students, alumni and education leaders. Here he reflects on how the visit will help strengthen and grow our educational collaborations in China as well as support our student recruitment ambitions.

As a University, we have a lot to gain from international collaboration.

As well as supporting our strategic ambitions to make a positive difference in the world, global partnerships also present opportunities to reach new student markets and grow our income. This is more vital than ever in the context of the financial challenges we currently face.

With this in mind, my recent eight-day visit to China was packed with meetings and events with partner institutions, recruitment agents and key players in Chinese education – both to raise Reading’s profile and to explore opportunities for further research and educational collaborations.

At the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), where students can take a BA Accounting degree programme run with Henley Business School, senior leaders spoke in glowing terms about the current partnership and suggested potential new PhD programmes.

The NUIST Reading Academy, at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), offers a range of degrees in sciences and social sciences to almost 400 students. NUIST’s President and Vice-President International urged us to build on the NUIST Academy’s strong reputation in China by seeking to expand the partnership to more subjects and work collaboratively to increase the numbers of students transferring to Reading to the levels we experienced before the pandemic.

Our strong reputation in these subject areas and successful relationships with institutions like these in China, as well as others around the world, will help us stand out from the crowd when attempting to forge and grow collaborations in a competitive global market.

Our meeting with the Chinese Ministry of Education in Beijing was also fruitful as representatives expressed a mutual appetite for more collaborative programmes, particularly in our strength areas of business and agriculture, and for broadening our joint PhD offering.

In addition, I had conversations with key student recruitment agents about the market conditions in China. I also heard about plans for a new training programme as part of the Henley’s ICT Academy collaboration with Huawei, during a visit to the company’s Research Centre in Beijing.

Past, present and future student engagement

As well as the formal meetings, there were some opportunities to build relationships, inspire students and showcase Reading at some more social events in China.

I was delighted to attend the annual NUIST student enrolment ceremony – a grand affair involving more than 12,000 new students, including almost a full quota of new NUIST-Reading Academy recruits, in their sports stadium. Here and at an earlier busy student event, I was able to present on our University’s research strengths and our international outlook. I also expressed my support for student and staff mobility to enhance prospects in today’s transnational world, presenting Reading as an attractive destination for international students.

I was also really pleased to be able to host over 100 Reading alumni at the alumni evening drinks reception in Beijing, which was also attended by several partners from BIT. I was heartened to hear from several of the graduates who attended and who expressed an interest in returning to Reading one day to pursue further studies. As the video we played at the event stated: once Reading, always Reading.

Travelling green

In keeping with the low-carbon requirements in our updated Travel Policy, I made the most of this international trip by packing in as much as possible while I was there! I also travelled within China by bullet train. Although it took a little longer than it would have by plane, it was a much more relaxing and greener way to travel.

I’m told that some of the Chinese alumni that attended our Beijing event were quite interested in my transport choices, including flying economy and cycling to work in Reading, in their conversations on social media. Climate change can be a very political topic, so it was nice to hear such enthusiasm on an individual level among young people in a country which is now making serious progress on its own green agenda.

It was a whirlwind stay in China and I’m grateful for the support of colleagues for ensuring it was so productive.

Of course, China is far from the only international student market we are engaging with, and I will work with Caroline Baylon, our new Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International), to keep colleagues updated on our plans and progress in this important area.