Recently, Professor Zhao Tingting, Member of the Academic Development Advisory Committee of the China Association of Higher Education (CAHE) and Vice Dean of the Institute of Education, Xiamen University, embarked on a visit to Egypt and Morocco, accompanied with the CAHE delegation. Concentrating on advancing the development of cooperation mechanisms under the China-Africa Consortium of Universities and China-Arab Consortium of Universities, the trip focused on the implementation of the China-Africa Hundred Universities Cooperation Program and the China-Arab Universities 10+10 Cooperation Initiative. The delegation was led by Yan Chunhua, who is Vice President of CAHE, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Former President of Lanzhou University, and Peking University Boya Chair Professor. Accompanying members included Li Nan, Vice President and Secretary-General of CAHE, and Gao Xiaojie, Deputy Secretary-General and Director of the Department of Academic Research and Exchange, along with Vice President Zhao Tingting.
From July 20 to 22, the delegation paid a courtesy call on Liao Liqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative to the Arab League. They subsequently visited The Supreme Council of Universities (SCU) of Egypt, Cairo University, and Badr University, where in-depth discussions were held with Mustafa Rafaat, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Universities, Mohamed Samy Abdelsadek, President of Cairo University, and Ashraf Mohamed El-Sheikh, President of Badr University. All reached a consensus on leveraging the China-Africa and China-Arab Consortium of Universities Exchange Mechanism to actively build a China-Egypt university cooperation platform, focused on key areas such as digital education resource development, priority discipline construction, high-level scientific research, joint talent cultivation, and faculty-student exchanges. During the visit, Lu Chunsheng, Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, together with Duan Zhijie and Feng Yao from the Education, Science and Culture Section, accompanied the delegation in relevant visits and discussions.
Delegation visited the Supreme Council of Universities
Delegation visited Cairo University
Delegation visited Badr University
From July 23 to 24, the delegation attended the Annual Meeting of the China-Africa Consortium of Universities Exchange Mechanism (2025) and China-Africa Higher Education Exchanges and Cooperation at University Mohammed VI Polytechnic in Morocco. Yan Chunhua, Vice President of CAHE, Olusola Oyewole, Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), and Li Changlin, Chinese Ambassador to Morocco, graced the event and delivered speeches. In the scholar presentation session, Professor Zhao Tingting was invited to deliver a speech, titled from Resource Connectivity to Wisdom Community: Sino-African higher education cooperation in the digital era. Drawing on the achievements of China’s higher education digitalization practice and integrating the realities of African higher education development, she proposed that bilateral cooperation should adhere to the principles of resource adaptability, capacity co-construction, and ecosystem co-building. She emphasized that cooperation must avoid the simplistic transplantation of education digitalization models and move beyond merely technology transfer, to enhance independent development capabilities, ultimately achieving the sustainable development of higher education. She stressed that from China’s digitalization practices to the collaborative exploration between China and Africa, higher education is leveraging digital technology to transcend geographical and temporal constraints, moving toward a more inclusive and high-quality future.
During the conference, Professor Zhao Tingting also joined the delegation in meetings with the World Bank’s Africa Education Team and participated in the 16th General Assembly of the Association of African Universities. Her participation in this visit has expanded the communication and exchanges between the Institute of Education of Xiamen University and African countries, marking an important practice for the institute to engage in China-Africa higher education cooperation.
Group photo of delegates at the annual exchange mechanism conference
Meeting with the World Bank team
Attend the 16th General Assembly of the Association of African Universities
