An exchange meeting for university presidents from China and the United States takes place in Nantong on June 10. [Photo/Nantong University]

An academically-focused exchange meeting for university presidents from China and the United States, under the Sino-American Cooperation on Higher Education and Professional Development program, was held in Nantong, Jiangsu province, on June 10.

The event brought together over 40 experts and scholars, focusing on topics such as international talent cultivation, open cooperation in higher education, and inter-university collaborative innovation. They discussed new pathways for China-US educational cooperation and envisioned a new blueprint for the development of the education sector.

Zhang Jin, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges at China's Ministry of Education, said that in the future they will support institutions from both countries to conduct more mutually beneficial inter-university collaborations.

She also highlighted plans to explore exchanges in AI-empowered education with the US, aiming to foster friendships and trust among the next generation of young talents and establish a multicultural value system that embraces harmony in diversity.

Chen Dongmei, head of the Publicity Department of Nantong, emphasized the city's commitment to optimizing the environment for international exchanges.

Nantong will provide comprehensive support for inter-university cooperation and faculty-student exchanges, with hopes of attracting more high-quality overseas scientific, educational, and industrial resources through high-level international educational cooperation.

Amanda Taylor, associate vice-president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), described the Sino-American Cooperation on Higher Education and Professional Development as a globally representative and sustainable benchmark project in higher education.

She anticipated seeing Chinese and American educational departments and institutions collaborate in addressing the challenges of the new era, strengthening partnerships, and fostering long-term, pragmatic cooperation.

Nantong University joined the program in 2017, collaborating with the University of North Alabama to cultivate accounting professionals, having trained over 360 students to date.

In recent years, Nantong has engaged in diverse forms of cooperation, including transnational teaching, study tours, and academic exchanges. Currently, 169 schools in Nantong have established sister school relationships with counterparts in Asia, Europe, North America, and other regions.

The city sends over 400 students abroad for exchanges each year, dispatches more than 300 teachers for visiting studies, and maintains a long-term foreign teaching staff of about 50 people.

The Sino-American Cooperation on Higher Education and Professional Development is a bilateral exchange and cooperation program in higher education, managed by the China Education Association for International Exchange, the China Center for International Educational Exchange, and AASCU.

It aims to cultivate highly creative international talents through innovative talent development models and serves as a vital platform for the exchange of high-quality educational resources between China and the US, nurturing talents with a global perspective and cross-cultural competence.