The Chinese Ambassador to Greece, Mr. Xiao Junzheng, and the educational attaché, Mr. Tian Lei, visited the facilities of the University of Western Macedonia at the new Campus in the ZEP of Kozani. Mr. Ambassador met with the Foundation’s Rectoral Authorities to discuss Chinese institutions’ desire in collaborating with Greek universities and to determine how the Embassy could promote collaborations for the interchange of students and teachers. Mr. Ambassador formally invited the Rectoral Authorities of the Foundation to the forum that will be held in early November in conjunction with the visit of 32 Chinese universities to Greece in this direction and in response to a prior visit by Chinese universities to Athens.

The Rector Mr. Theodoulides informed the Ambassador about the initiatives that initiatives undertaken by the university to achieve the strategic goal of internationalization, noting that for this reason, the new administrative structure of the university has the Vice-Rectorate for International Relations, External Relations and Lifelong Learning. “Our academic community has been collaborating for years with universities in China, mainly in the context of research projects, such as with the Beijing University of Chemical Technology on energy and environmental issues. Our goal is to enrich these collaborations in actions and expand them to other institutions. In this direction, the Department of Mechanical Engineering in cooperation with the China Three Gorges University has submitted a proposal to create a joint program which is currently in the final stage of approval by the Chinese Ministry of Education’.

In a meeting I had with the Rector a few months ago at the Embassy, I could see his passion for the UOWM’s collaboration with the universities in his nation, said the Chinese Ambassador, Mr. Xiao Junzheng, in reference to the partnerships UOWM has with universities in his nation.