The Sino-UK Vocational Education Cooperation and Development Committee initiated by our college successfully held the Founding Ceremony of China-UK Vocational College of Excellence & the 2ed International Cooperation Forum for Sino-UK Vocational Education Meeting Agenda in Shanghai Urban Construction Vocational College on November 15 and 16.

  The meeting aimed to implement the consensus on in-depth cooperation between China and the UK, promoted deepening cooperation and exchanges between the two countries, and formed resource sharing and mutual benefit in the field of vocational education. Steven Rhodes, Vice President of NPTC Group of Colleges, Karen Sun, Chief Representative of the Welsh Government Office, Chu Zhaohui, Research Fellow, China Academy of Education Sciences, Jiang Yan, Education and Skills Department, UK Department of International Trade, Huang Yahui, Chairman of the Board of the Credits Online (Beijing) International Data Technology, and Darren Horne, International Executive Director of the Centre of Excellence for British Vocational Education in China(CEBVEC) attended the meeting and delivered speeches. More than 100 experts and scholars from more than 50 institutions in China and the UK attended the meeting.

  At the second meeting of the first council of the Sino-UK Vocational Education Cooperation and Development Committee held on the same day, Dong Hongxing,the Secretary-General of the Commission, reported on the work in 2018 and made a work plan for 2019. The Sino-UK Vocational Education Institute of Third Party Evaluation and the Institute of Sino-British Vocational Education Modern Apprenticeship were established on the meeting. In the future, we will focus on the third-party evaluation and modern apprenticeship in the field of vocational education, and carry out research and practice to help exchange and integration of vocational education between Chinese and the UK.

  At the International Cooperation Forum for Sino-UK Vocational Education, many guests delivered a brilliant keynote speech on the theme of “The Belt and Road” international cooperation in vocational education and Sino-UK international cooperation in vocational education. At the same time, some outstanding cases and practical results of British vocational education and the development of modern apprenticeship system between Chinese and British were shared. Liu Qi, a teacher of our school, made a theme report on the modern apprenticeship system of Xi'an Railway Vocational and Technical Institute at the forum, and conducted in-depth exchanges with Chinese and British vocational education scholars.

  This Sino-British cooperation project originated during the visit of British Prime Minister Teresa May to China earlier this year. President Xi Jinping reached a consensus with her on the "golden age" of deepening China-UK relations. Since then, the cooperation and development of vocational education in the two countries has also caught up with the “honeymoon period” of diplomatic. In May of this year, the Centre of Excellence for British Vocational Education in China(CEBVEC), together with Neath Port Talbot College, University of Gloucestershire, Middlesex University , and the British-Chinese Trade Association co-sponsored with Shanghai Urban Construction Vocational College, Xi'an Railway Vocational, Technical Institute and Chengdu Polytechnic and many other Chinese vocational college to establish the International Cooperation Council for Vocational Education —— Sino-UK Vocational Education Commission.

  At this meeting, our Institute initially reached a consensus with the Sino-UK Vocational Education Commission and the CEBVEC to actively explore the cooperation between China and Britain in railway professional colleges to dock with social general specialties, determine our own development orientation, seize the opportunities of the times and respond positively to the “Belt and Road” initiative, as well as explore the way of vocational education abroad and commit to creating a new platform for international exchanges and cooperation.

  The meeting deepened the exchanges and cooperation between China and the UK in the field of vocational education and made the direction for further cooperation between the two countries clearly through the implementation of a series of joint entities. The China-UK Vocational College of Excellence and the Sino-British Research Institute of Vocational Education Modern Apprenticeship, established at the meeting, and practice results of Sino-UK vocational education teacher training base will be an important force in promoting the development of China's vocational education and the cultivation of high-quality technical skills.