VU celebrates strong connections with its Chinese partners

Victoria University (VU) delegates including Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Peter Dawkins AO, visited Beijing partner institute, Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) in October as part of the Chinese university’s 70th anniversary celebrations.

The event provided an opportunity for Professor Dawkins to acknowledge the 16 years of successful partnership with CUFE in providing VU business courses in international trade and financial risk management. With 3,000 graduates now working in high profile industry and government positions in China and Australia, the collaboration continues to deliver excellence. So much so, engagement between VU and CUFE expanded in 2016 with the launch of the joint Centre for Research on Business and Economics. The Centre hosts joint research projects between CUFE and VU academics, and research conferences are held annually.

Professor Dawkins also addressed audiences at various events hosted at CUFE, including the President’s Forum on the Responsibility of Universities in an Ever-Changing Society where he discussed VU’s transformational journey. “With the rapid changes we are seeing in our society, the best universities can do is to equip our students to be confident learners, have the mindsets for innovation and adaptability, to be enterprising and engaged in lifelong learning, as their future awaits them.”

He echoed these sentiments at the Australia-China University Leaders’ Forum in Beijing; a conference that coincided with the 20th anniversary of the collaboration between Universities Australia (UA) and the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). At the conference (also in October) Professor Dawkins presented his session, Building World-Class Universities: Implementing an Australian First to delegates from across Australia and China, to discuss VU’s Block Model journey. “We are leading an education revolution in the higher education landscape of Australia,” said Professor Dawkins.

The visit to China also gave VU delegates the opportunity to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with partner university CUFE. Professor Dawkins highlighted the significance of this occasion, to further demonstrate the continued strength of VU’s collaboration with its Chinese partners. “China has always kept its door open for international collaboration in education. International engagement has been an important factor in the growing success and achievements of Chinese universities. Today, we are all the beneficiaries of this great success.”