From March 26 to 28, a 10-member delegation led by Torben Hansen, Mayor of Randers, and Erik Hygum, Dean, Faculty of Education & Social Studies, VIA University College, Denmark visited CIT. Cao Yuping, Secretary of the CIT Committee of the CPC; Li Wenhu, CIT President; Wang Chuanjin, CIT Vice-President, and Shen Lian, Deputy Director of Changzhou Municipal Foreign Affairs Office met the delegation. Some leaders and key teachers from the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation attended the meeting.

Vice-President Wang warmly welcomed the delegation and briefly introduced CIT’s history, size, strategic orientation, disciplines, international programs, and international students’ education. Mayor Hansen introduced Randers city. Both parties reviewed the operation and achievements of the China-foreign cooperatively-run programs with VIA in the field of Preschool Education and Civil Engineering, the credit recognition program in architecture, and a workshop program. On the basis of the joint efforts thus far, both parties expressed interest in further improving and expanding the existing programs. After the meeting, the delegation toured the campus, a laboratory and observed some classes.

In the meeting with Faculty of Education & Social Studies, both parties discussed the time, contents and format of the symposium to be held at CIT in 2018 for Changzhou kindergartens and primary school heads. They also had in-depth discussions concerning issues such as: short-term student exchange, VIA student placements in Changzhou kindergartens, joint construction of a Jiangsu Province high level demonstration project in the Preschool Education program, joint management committee meeting in 2018, and scholarships, etc.

In the meeting with Faculty of Civil Engineering, both parties conducted negotiations regarding the time, content, and student scale of the civil engineering workshop program. They also exchanged ideas on the teacher training courses and visit arrangements.

During the visit, Dean Hygum visited Changzhou Jiguan kindergarten, which is CIT’s placement base. In addition, CIT, Changzhou Jiguan kindergarten, and VIA signed an Agreement on the China-Denmark Childhood Education Research Center in Changzhou.

Some leaders and teachers from the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation and the School of Education and Humanities were invited to meet the Consul General of the Kingdom of Denmark in Shanghai to discuss the cooperation and development plan between the two universities.

Randers, the sixth largest city in Denmark became Changzhou’s sister city in 2014. The two cities cooperate in many areas, such as economy and trade, education, culture, tourism, fire control, etc. It was Mayor Hansen’s first visit to Changzhou with the aim of further understanding Changzhou’s development and promoting cooperation between CIT and VIA in various fields, including pre-school education.