Cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations is an important force driving the progress of humanity and world peace and development.
As the world is going through accelerated changes never seen in the last century, China and New Zealand have continuously deepened their educational cooperation and expanded cultural exchanges.
This is of great significance for the two countries and the two peoples, and for building the human community with a shared future.
The past decade has seen both sides make sustained efforts to forge consensus, set up platforms and carry out pragmatic cooperation, with bountiful results in educational and cultural fields.
Incomplete statistics show that since the two countries formed diplomatic ties more than 50 years ago, their educational institutions have reached many cooperation projects, laying a solid foundation for furthering the educational cooperation and cementing the comprehensive strategic partnership.
China-New Zealand educational and cultural exchanges promote the sound development of bilateral relations. Friendship, which derives from close contact between the people, holds the key to sound state-to-state relations.
Educational and cultural exchanges, which transcend national boundaries and estrangement, propel in impalpable ways the people of both countries to study from and understand each other and to be inclusive and respectful towards their cultural differences, so they will forge consensus through exchange and cooperation, and jointly foster a new, shared culture of win-win results.
The mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and the New Zealanders underpin the increasingly closer relations between the two countries.
China-New Zealand educational and cultural exchanges strengthen the friendship between their youths. Educational and cultural exchanges, which take place among scholars and students in universities, consist of rich academic activities and cultural interactions in various forms and through sound mechanisms.
They can nurture trust and friendship between Chinese and Zelanian youths and lay the cultural foundation for a great future of bilateral relations.
Through sustained and friendly exchanges, China and New Zealand will cultivate a large group of talent who, with global vision and strong ability of transcultural communication, will serve as the bridge of friendship between the two countries.
China-New Zealand educational and cultural exchanges advance the all-round development of bilateral ties. There is vast space for in-depth, mutually beneficial cooperation between China and New Zealand in a broad array of areas, such as education, science and technology, economy and trade, tourism, medical care, think tank, AI, and climate governance.
Having formed the comprehensive strategic partnership, the two countries’ friendly exchanges in educational and cultural sectors will help create a favorable atmosphere for their cooperation in political, economic, closer bilateral ties and other areas.
Peking University is a pivot for China’s international exchanges in the educational sector. Aiming to create a world-class university, we have designed an all-round, multi-level, and wide-ranging top-level framework for educational cooperation between China and New Zealand.
Within this framework, we have set up the New Zealand Centre at Peking University, and signed MoUs with eight New Zealand universities on its continued operation to propel joint research and mutual visits of scholars.
Additionally, the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding of Peking University has actively facilitated China visits by presidents and scholars from New Zealand universities in the form of cultural exchanges, hosting the Peking University International Forum on People-to-People Exchange and other high-level events, and implementing visiting scholar programs for key BRI countries.
By means of a series of deep-going, wide-ranging and visionary cooperation projects, Peking University and New Zealand universities have achieved win-win outcomes through complementarity, pushing mutual learning and connectivity and deepening educational cooperation between the two sides.
Such endeavors have contributed to the friendship between the two peoples and set up a model for bilateral educational and cultural exchanges.
China and New Zealand should make joint efforts to make sure their comprehensive strategic partnership will press ahead steadily, as another fifty years are unfolding for bilateral relations.
Strengthening educational and cultural exchange is one of the most important secrets to the China-New Zealand relationship surpassing the relationship between China and other developed countries.
This piece of successful experience has provided meaningful references to other countries in the world. Going forward, we look forward to greater achievements in educational and cultural sectors and flourishing friendship between China and New Zealand.
Let’s work together to provide the international community with a paradigm that embodies mutual respect, treating each other as equals, openness and inclusiveness, harmony without conformity, and win-win cooperation.
Wang Dong is executive director and professor of Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University.
Ma Tao, and a post-doctoral fellow of School of International Studies at Peking University.