Date: October 29th to 31st, 2021

Location: Shaoxing, China

Host University: Zhejiang Yuexiu University

Number of Attendees: 191

Number of Participating Countries and Regions: 18

Number of Attending Universities: 72

Theme: Building an Asian Higher Education Community in the Post-epidemic Era

Main Contents:

On Oct. 30, 2021, the 20th Asian University Presidents Forum (AUPF) cum the 40th Anniversary of Zhejiang Yuexiu University (ZYU) kicked off both online and offline on the Campus. On the opening ceremony hosted by President Xu Zhenhua, representatives from 72 universities across 18 countries and regions participated in this Forum to discuss the development of higher education in Asia and celebrate the 40th anniversary of ZYU.

In this Forum, 4 categories of awards were presented to universities and individuals for their outstanding contributions to the Session. First, Special Memorial Award was conferred to 4 universities and their then Presidents: Sinakarinweyno University and Suthep Phuongwen, Siam University and Punchai Munkhungwani, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Xu Zhenhua, Chaoshan Vocational and Technical College and Zhuang Mingying separately; then, a total of 18 universities represented by Sinakarinwiro University and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies won the Outstanding Organization Award; 10 universities earned the Forum Contribution Award, and they were Guangdong University of Foreign Studies,Chaoshan Vocational and Technical College, Anhui University, Dongseo University, Bangkok University, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Petra Christian University, VIT University, Daffodil International University, and the Philippine Normal University; finally, Professor Mathana Santiwat, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bangkok University was bestowed the Honorary Chairman Award.

Besides, Mr Hu Baifan, Chair of the Board of Trustees delivered a welcome speech, in which he recalled that ZYU, by adhering to the original dream of “cultivating excellent foreign language talents for the local communities”, formed its own education legacy with its own distinctive characteristics, allowing it to rank among the top private universities in China and make valuable contributions to the economic and social development; he also expressed that the University, together with all attending experts, would contribute advanced teaching philosophies, share high-quality educational resources and jointly promote a great development of higher education in Asia.

Sui Guangjun, Secretary of Party Committee of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, on behalf of the Secretariat, presented a speech at the opening ceremony. He looked back on the past 20 years of the Forum, and reaffirmed the belief that AUPF, following the “education-oriented” Goal and the “voluntariness, equality, friendship and learning” Principle, would make remarkable contributions in terms of promoting exchange and cooperation among universities, jointly training talents and the reformation of higher education. Also, this Session, he believed, would be of far-reaching significance, as it was held with both challenges and opportunities in the post-epidemic era. In addition, Prof. Mathana Santiwat, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bangkok University and Prof. Jekuk Chang, President of Dongseo University also expressed their support for the Forum and congratulations to the 40th anniversary of the host University.

There were 3 sub-forums as follows.

Forum 1: “Belt and Road” Talent Cultivation and Greater Development of Higher Education

Representatives from 7 universities, namely, Shanghai Film Academy (Shanghai University), Taiwan Shih Chien University, Dalian University of Foreign Studies, Shaoxing University of Arts and Science, Macao Polytechnic Institute and AGH University of Science and Technology, and Zhejiang Yuexiu University, had a heated and in-depth discussion.

Forum 2: Modernization of University Governance System and Governance Capacity

This sub-forum drew representatives from 8 universities that were Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Zhejiang International Studies University, Assumption University of Thailand, Macau University of Science and Technology, Harbin University of Commerce, Zhejiang Institute of Science and Technology, Lanzhou University and Zhejiang Yuexiu University.

Forum 3: International Cooperation in Running Schools in the Post-epidemic Era

This theme was discussed by representatives from 5 universities, which were Daffodil International University of Bangladesh, New Era University College of Malaysia, Chaoshan Vocational and Technical College, Universidad Complutense and Heinrich Heine University.

The standing committee meeting was co-chaired online by Wei Xiaolin, Vice President of Zhejiang Yuexiu University, and Jiao Fangtai, Vice President of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Those who attended this session watched the promotional video of Vellore Institute of Technology, India, and President Viswanathan’s presentation about the preparations for the next AUPF to be hosted by his University. The meeting also agreed on the design of the awards in this Forum and the principles for hosting AFW introduced by Lu Lu, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies where the Secretariat sits, and passed “Shaoxing Declaration: Building the Asian Higher Education Community in the Post-epidemic Era” read by Wang Jing, Director of International Cooperation and Exchange Office of Zhejiang Yuexiu University. Furthermore, Jang Jigok, President of Dongseo University, presented topics on developing a team teaching curriculum driven by Metaverse and upon the necessity and feasibility of establishing Asian Associated University (AAU), which triggered smoking-hot discussion.