On January 19, the launch ceremony for ZUFE's Kazakhstan "Silk Road Institute" took place at the Xiasha Campus, which was presided over by Zheng Yali, Vice President of ZUFE. Wei Jiang, Vice Secretary of the CPC Committee and Vice President of ZUFE (in charge of daily executive work), Zhu Jun, Chief Economist at the Zhejiang Department of Commerce, and Ge Xuebin, Vice President of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Zhejiang Provincial Committee were invited to the event and delivered speeches. Also present were notable entrepreneurs, academic leaders, heads of relevant university departments, and directors of international programs from various schools.
Wei Jiang emphasized three key points of fostering an open "Silk Road Institute" platform through university-enterprise integration. First, he highlighted the long-term vision to play an active role in nurturing professionals with global vision and building a community with a shared future for humanity. This involves developing high-quality projects that serve the strategy of industrial internationalization and boost global integration. Second, he advocated for a goal-oriented approach, harmonizing the diverse objectives of universities and enterprises to ensure that majors, disciplines, and projects are in line with the external environment. Third, we must focus on integrated development featuring thoughtful planning, concrete actions, and tangible outcomes and explore a cooperative model where "enterprises pose challenges, universities address them, and enterprises evaluate the outcomes".
Zhu Jun stated that Zhejiang's ambition to become a high-level open province relies heavily on international talents. Government-industry-university cooperation, both domestically and internationally, is crucial for enterprises aiming to go global. The "Silk Road Institute" plays a vital role in this endeavor. Thanks to ZUFE's solid foundation in cooperation with Kazakhstan and advantages in economics and management disciplines, the Zhejiang Department of Commerce, working with the Zhejiang Department of Education, stands ready to support the "Silk Road Institute" program.
Ge Xuebin noted that building ZUFE's Kazakhstan "Silk Road Institute" aligns with national and regional development strategies. All parties should join forces to maximize the "1+1>2" effect and establish a mechanism for complementary advantages and resource sharing to strongly support the development of the "Silk Road Institute" platform.
The launch ceremony for the ZUFE's Kazakhstan "Silk Road Institute" was a collaborative effort, with leaders from guiding institutions--Zhejiang Department of Commerce and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Zhejiang Provincial Committee, and representatives from co-building institutions--ZUFE, Zhejiang Supcon Technology Co., Ltd., Taizhou Vocational, and Technical College, as well as ones from supporting entities like the Zhejiang Construction Investment Group, Beijing Aopuxun Network Technology Development Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Weite Lift Co., Ltd, Zhejiang Yuexiu University, and Zhejiang Financial College joined in solidarity, celebrating the moment with a commemorative group photo.
The event was followed by a symposium on "University-Enterprise Internationalization and the Construction of the 'Silk Road Institute'", featuring insights from notable figures such as Dong Gang, Chairman of Beijing Aopuxun Technology Development Co., Ltd., Ji Chengkun, President of the Oil and Gas Solutions Division at Supcon Technology Co., Ltd., Ge Jinling, Vice President of Zhejiang Yuexiu University, Xu Feng, Vice President of Taizhou Vocational and Technical College, and Liu Yizhan, Director of the International Exchange Office at Zhejiang Financial College. They discussed the way universities and enterprises go global and the policies, pathways, and challenges associated with developing the "Silk Road Institute".
"Silk Road Institute" is a concrete action to implement Zhejiang Province's "High-Quality Development Action Plan for the 'Belt and Road' Silk Road Institute" and reflects ZUFE's "New Finance and Economics Strategy". It’s designed to pave the way for international education by integrating government, universities, and enterprises. Through a “platform + project” model, ZUFE seeks to harness internal and external international resources, promote cultural and linguistic exchanges, vocational skills, and business management training with Kazakhstan, develop premium overseas cooperative education programs for degree-seeking students, and support those programs in the format of "2+2" and "2+1" for undergraduate and postgraduate students. These efforts aim to enrich ZUFE's international profile and support Chinese enterprises' global outreach.
