China-Canada education cooperation benefiting from development of education in China

ABOVE: Canadian student takes in the culture and the sites while on an educational exchange in China.

by Cong Peiwu, Chinese Ambassador to Canada

In May 2021, the Chinese Government announced promoting the  building of “a Country Strong in Education” during the 14th five-year plan period (2021-2025) through consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation in primary and secondary education, deepening the integration of industry and education in vocational and technical education, and promoting the substantive development of higher education. The new project will be implemented with joint efforts from various participants and partners at home and abroad.

According to the 14th Five-Year Plan, China will construct a high-quality education system in the next five years. The average years of schooling for the working-age population will increase from 10.7 years in 2020 to 11.3 years in 2025, compared with 1.6 years before the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. China will also enhance equal access to elementary and secondary public education and develop vocational education to train skilled working forces. A more diversified higher education system will be established, with the construction of world-class universities and world-class disciplines in different categories and high-level Chinese-foreign cooperation in running schools.

The rapid development of education in China has brought opportunities for the education cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between our two countries, which are conducive to the advancement of S&T in the world, and mutual understanding and support between the two peoples, contributing to the expected smooth development of the bilateral relations.

Since China and Canada established diplomatic relations more than 50 years ago, bilateral cooperation in education has been developing smoothly. The two countries have established a mechanism for the high-level consultation on education collaboration and signed inter-governmental memorandums of understanding (MOUs) including “China-Canada Education Cooperation,” “China-Canada Scholars’ Exchange Program” and “the Canada Learning Initiative in China.” China’s Ministry of Education has signed MOUs on mutual recognition of post-secondary education with 10 Canadian provinces, and MOUs on education cooperation and exchanges with several Canadian provinces as well.

Universities and colleges are actively engaged in education cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. There are more than 200 joint institutions and programs in China-Canada cooperation in running schools. Not long ago, several university presidents and their counterparts signed “the Joint Statement of Global University Leaders on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,”committed to forging a sustainable future through dialogue, solidarity and collaboration. There are about 200,000 Chinese students studying in Canada and thousands of Canadian students in China. The on-going youth exchange helps broaden their horizons and advance mutual understanding. David Allen, a young Canadian having studied in China, once said “the experience has been a life changer. I am still in China, happy and excited each day for new opportunities and adventure. Onward and upward!”

While the bilateral education cooperation is going on, we need to guard against overstretching the concept of national security to demonize and stigmatize normal academic exchanges and cooperation, and urge appropriate atmosphere to be created for mutually-beneficial exchanges and cooperation among the education and research communities of the two countries.

The development and opening-up of education in China has promoted the China-Canada education cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, which have and will serve the common and long-term interests of the peoples in both countries. We hope that the China-Canada education cooperation will move forward stably and contribute more to bilateral relations.