UK-China exchange tops agenda on ambassador's Cambridge visit

China's ambassador to the United Kingdom Zheng Zeguang made an official visit to the University of Cambridge on Thursday, where he encouraged more academic exchanges between China and the UK.

Zheng held discussions with Deborah Prentice, vice-chancellor of the university, and her team on how to grow educational exchanges and collaboration between Cambridge and Chinese universities.

Zheng noted that China regards education, science and technology, and human resources as fundamental and strategic pillars for Chinese modernization, adding that the National Conference on Education held in Beijing earlier this month further clarified that China will continue to give high priority to education and support universities to actively participate in international exchanges.

He stressed that China and the UK have respective strengths in education and China-UK cooperation benefits both countries.

Prentice talked about Cambridge's pursuit of excellence and innovation, and about the prospect of continuing to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with Chinese universities.

The university has long been engaging with its counterparts in China for research and education exchanges. In 2018, it chose Nanjing, the capital city of East China's Jiangsu province, to establish Cambridge University - Nanjing Centre of Technology and Innovation.

"I hope Cambridge continues to champion the idea of exchange. The exchange between universities and industries and the exchange between the UK and China are all very important," said Zheng. "I'd like to see more Chinese researchers work and share their expertise through the Nanjing center."

Zheng also visited TusPark Cambridge within the Cambridge Science Park and the Maxwell Centre at the renowned Cavendish Laboratory, where he emphasized the importance of collaboration between research and industry.

He encouraged the implementation of more R&D projects in China's vast market, highlighting that areas of Cambridge's expertise—such as new materials, life sciences, and renewable energy—align with China's development priorities, while emphasizing that such collaboration would also benefit the UK.

At King's College Cambridge, Zheng met with Robin Osborne, vice-provost of the college, and Alan Macfarlane, emeritus professor of the college and a prolific author on China, among other fellows, to learn about their research and the college's Silk Roads Programme.

The ambassador also met with 20 representatives from more than 2,000 Chinese students studying at Cambridge and listened to their experiences as international students.

Ambassador Zheng briefed the students on the achievements of China’s development, inspired them to love the country, study hard, stay safe and support each other, and encouraged them to serve the country after graduation and become the pillar of building the country.