Sino-Bangla Desk: In order to make full use of the resources of international sister cities and serve Guangxi’s vocational education “go global”, the inauguration ceremony of the International Sister Cities Alliance on Vocational Education was successfully held in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region through a hybrid platform on 30 November 2022.

Under the guidance of the Foreign Affairs Office and the Department of Education of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Guangxi People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Nanning College for Vocational Technology, and Guangxi Polytechnic of Construction jointly initiated the establishment of the Guangxi International Sister Cities Alliance on Vocational Education.

Mr. Zhou Tong, Deputy Director-General of the Guangxi Foreign Affairs Office and Vice President of Guangxi People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Mr. Luo Yaoguang, Director of International Cooperation and Exchange of the Guangxi Department of Education; Mr. Zhou Wang, President of Nanning College for Vocational Technology; Mr. Wu Kun, President of Guangxi Polytechnic of Construction; Ms. Natalia Salogubov, Head of the Department of Education, Science and Youth Policy of the Voronezh Region of Russia; Ms. Atty Marvey, Superintendent of CTU Vocational School of Cebu of the Philippines attended and delivered speeches in the inauguration ceremony.

A total of 37 colleges and universities from 15 sister cities in 10 countries including Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Russia, Greece, and 22 vocational colleges from 9 cities in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region made a strategic agreement at the inauguration ceremony.

In the strategic agreement, professional fields cover Information technology, industrial skills, railway manufacturing, civil engineering, agriculture and forestry, financial economy, business management, hotel management, and other education and training, representing a complete range of majors and outstanding academic advantages.

Mr. Zhou Tong said that the Guangxi International Sister Cities Alliance on Vocational Education will promote vocational education personnel training, joint school running, academic exchanges, innovation and entrepreneurship between Guangxi and international sister cities Exchanges and practical cooperation in other aspects, to cultivate excellent talents for Guangxi and its international sister cities, and to promote the high-quality economic and social development of all parties.

The International Sister Cities Alliance on Vocational Education will gradually promote the complementary cooperation of all parties in professional construction, curriculum resources, talent training, and teacher construction to improve the quality of talent training.

It will also promote the integration of construction, education, and school-enterprise cooperation, and encourage enterprises to participate in curriculum design, teaching, and scientific research; to provide cross-border internship and employment opportunities for the students of the alliance members.

It will build communication platforms such as principal dialogue meetings, teacher-student exchange activities, special exchange seminars, study abroad programs, technical skills competitions, joint research, and many more to promote exchanges, cooperation, and common development among alliance members.

Since the establishment of the first pair of sister cities in 1979, the number of sister cities in Guangxi has continued to increase, and the effectiveness of exchanges has become increasingly remarkable. Guangxi has established 125 pairs of international sister cities with 38 countries on five continents, ranking fourth in China. Among them, Guangxi has established 57 pairs of international sister cities with ASEAN countries, ranking first in China.

Guangxi has successively won honors such as the “Special Contribution Award for International Friendship Cities” and “Exchange and Cooperation Award for International Friendship Cities” issued by the China International Friendship Cities Federation.