The Secretary-General of the China Scholarship Council, Mr Jianxue Sheng, accompanied by Mr Xiaopeng Hu, and a Chinese Government delegation, including the Director-General of the Chinese Ministry of Finance, Mr Jiayu Hang, the Directors of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Ms Shu Chen and Mr Yi Wang, and the Educational Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, Mr. Lei Tian, visited the National Technical University of Athens on Wednesday, May 24th, 2023. The Chinese delegation was welcomed by the Rector of the National Technical University of Athens, Prof. Andreas Boudouvis, the Vice Rector of Finance, Planning and Development, Prof. Evangelos Sapountzakis, the Vice Rector of Administrative, Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Drossos Gintides, the Director of International Relations, Mrs Antonia Lampropoulou, and NTUA Professors who maintain solid academic and research partnerships with Chinese Universities, Prof. Konstantinos Kostopoulos, Prof. Konstantinos Loupasakis and Prof. Dimitrios Bouris.

The China Scholarship Council is responsible for the organization, funding and management of Chinese citizens studying abroad and foreign citizens studying in China, to facilitate the development of education, science and technology, cultural exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between China and other countries. The purpose of the visit to the National Technical University of Athens has been to strengthen the exchange of students in the fields of Engineering and Applied Science, given that most of the studies of Chinese citizens in Greece are in the fields of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The NTUA Rector, Prof. Andreas Boudouvis, informed the Secretary-General that the National Technical University of Athens has been working closely with Chinese universities mainly on research activities, while more than twenty bilateral agreements have been signed with Chinese Universities. Studies opportunities in English are now available for Chinese students in the framework of the internationalization of the postgraduate studies of the National Technical University of Athens, while Chinese students can enroll at NTUA for the elaboration of part or the whole of their PhD Thesis.

The Chinese delegation expressed their satisfaction of the visit at the oldest and most prestigious Technological University in Greece. It was agreed that the priority of both parties is to support young scientists and early-career researchers in innovative scientific fields, as well as basic sciences. The preparation of a Memorandum of Understanding will follow specifying types of cooperation and priority scientific fields.