Recently, BJUT established its first overseas regional liaison office, the Overseas Liaison Office in Europe. On the afternoon of June 14, Deputy Party Secretary and President Liu Gonghui met with Professor Wang Liming from University College Dublin (UCD) and granted him Letter of Appointment of Overseas Liasion Commissioner of BJUT. Also present was staff from the International Office, the Personnel Department, and the College of International Education.

President Liu Gonghui introduced BJUT and talked about its international development and the background for establishing overseas liaison offices for international exchange. He pointed out that as BJUT follows the “Double First-class University” plan and seeks international development, liaison offices were important for BJUT to enhance its `international education level, attract high-level international talents, improve international exchange network, and promote international visibility and influence. He appreciated Professor Wang’s contributions to BJUT’s globalization, especially the establishment and development of the Beijing-Dublin International College in the past years. He noted that BJUT looked forward to strengthening cooperation and exchange with Professor Wang to develop its exchange network and coordinate international affairs in Europe.

Professor Wang Liming appreciated the trust of BJUT. Years of cooperation forged profound friendships. It was his honor to be recognized by BJUT and engaged as Overseas Liaison Commissioner. To serve BJUT’s global development strategy, he would make the most of his resources to assist BJUT with international exchange matters in Europe, exploring partnership opportunities with top institutions as well as international exchange platforms and programs that would benefit BJUT teachers and students.

President Liu Gonghui granting Letter of Appointment of Overseas Liasion Commissioner of BJUT to Professor Wang Liming

Establishing overseas liaison offices is an important step for BJUT to open education to the outside world, run an international university, implement its global development strategy and develop an international talent team. Following the guideline of “broadening network, strengthening publicity, promoting cooperation, attracting talents, improving services and connecting with alumni”, according to the study abroad trends of BJUT students, the concentration of foreign partners, and the need to optimize the structure of international students, BJUT is opening overseas liaison offices and hiring liaison commissioners in different countries and regions step by step to consolidate and improve its international exchange network.

Professor Wang has been Director of the Irish Institute for Chinese Studies at UCD and Director of the UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland since 2006. He has made great contributions to Sino-Irish cooperation in education, culture, and economy. In 2013, Professor Wang was engaged as Distinguished Expert under the Beijing Overseas Talent Aggregation Project (BOTAP) and became Adjunct Professor at the School of Economics and Management, BJUT.

Photo by Liu Xiaochi  Edited by Feng Hao