Date: October 30-31, 2004

Location: Shanghai, China

Host University: Shanghai International Studies University

Number of Attendees: 50

Number of Participating Countries and Regions: 9

Number of HEIs attending: 24

Theme: Globalization of Higher Education in Asia

Main Contents：

The 3rd session of the AUPF was successfully held by Shanghai International Studies University from October 30 to 31, 2004. The Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission highly valued the forum, with Mr. Cen Jianjun, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education, and Mr. Zhang Minxuan, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, attending and making speeches. Mr. Cen Jianjun expressed the wish that the forum, which originated as the Non-Governmental Cooperation Meeting of Sino-Thai Higher Education Institutions, could achieve more fruitful results and play its due role in furthering the educational cooperation and exchanges among Asian HEIs. The forum also received attention from the media including the Shanghai Branch of Xinhua News Agency, which covered the forum and made a special report. The host, Shanghai International Studies University, drafted the Shanghai Declaration of 2004 AUPF which provided guidance for Asian universities on how to accelerate educational internationalization, establish a modern university system, strengthen discipline development, and train high-quality teaching faculty as well as top talents facing the trend of economic globalization. The Declaration gave full expression to the common calls and objectives of Asian universities with regards to realizing educational internationalization and was recognized and approved by all participating presidents.

In the parallel session, presidents participating in this forum shared their views on the approaches of internationalization of Asian HEIs as well as their ideas on how to perfect the annual forum. The participants expressed a belief that the perfection of the forum relied on the contributions made by participating presidents who were obliged to increase their awareness and actively put educational internationalization into practice. As was advocated in the Shanghai Declaration, it was agreed that presidents needed to “walk out of the university gate and travel across the border to visit overseas universities and learn from their strengths. Through cooperation and drawing on each other’s strengths to perfect the academia, culture and education of Asia and the whole world and to make due contributions to human civilization”. Participants also suggested that universities, in the course of cooperation and exchanges, should propose beneficiary measures and topics for joint research, and summarize the effective models as well as successful experiences in exchanges and cooperation among Asian universities.