UFV president Mark Evered, and Yajing Betty Wang, UFV’s Manager of International Marketing, are touring China from January 12 to 22 to visit with community leaders, business executives, and officials from partner institutions.

“We have a long history of fruitful partnerships and joint educational initiatives with leading Chinese universities,” says Evered. “We host more than 300 Chinese students every semester and we are always on the lookout for new opportunities to cooperate and facilitate the flow of people, innovation, and knowledge between our two nations.”

The first stop on their itinerary is Harbin, the capitol and largest city of Heilongjiang province in China’s northeast region, where they will meet with officials from Harbin ShenGhengji Concord College of Sino-Canada (HSCCSC) to strenghten ties with this longstanding partner.

Concord College of Sino-Canada runs eight schools in large urban centres. Still under construction, the school in Harbin is the latest to open in China to offer Canadian and International Baccalaureate curriculum from kindergarten to grade 12.

After they complete high school, 90 per cent of CCSC’s graduates move on to tackle post-secondary studies at Canadian universities. In fact, over the last 10 years, many have already completed degrees at UFV. Discussions will revolve around avenues to help a cohort of CCSC students come pursue a BBA in Aviation in Abbotsford.

Evered and Wang will visit Heilongjiang International University (HIU), one of UFV’s new partners, where they will meet the president and administrators to discuss post-degree certificates in hospitality and data analysis.

Their sojourn in Harbin will also include a visit to Harbin No.18 High School and a meeting with business leaders to highlight investment opportunities in the City of Abbotsford’s U-District development properties.

Evered and Wang will wrap up their stay in the city by meeting representatives from the Heilongjiang provincial government to showcase the short-term training workshops offered by UFV’s Teacher Education program (TEP). Heilongjiang province has recently set aside $11 million to provide their teachers with the opportunity to attend professional development programs overseas.

“Our TEP faculty has experience teaching Chinese scholars,” says Evered, “and UFV may be a perfect fit.”

At his next stop in Beijing, Evered will sign a new agreement with Beijing International Studies University (BISU) to expand a very active collaboration between the two institutions and enable more students to study at UFV.

Evered and Wang will meet with government officials from China’s Ministry of Agriculture to discuss agricultural research at UFV and the imminent opening of the barn and greenhouse that will serve as the core of the Agriculture Centre for Excellence at UFV’s Chilliwack campus at Canada Education Park. They will also have the opportunity to talk with potential investors about the vision for Abbotsford’s U-District.

A short jaunt to Xi’an will bring Evered and Wang to Xi”an Fanyi University, where they will work out the details of a partnership in the field of social work.

The two travellers will part ways in Beijing. Wang will continue on to visit several other universities and colleges throughout China. Evered will hold meetings with representatives from the Canadian embassy and BC International Trade and Investment office in Beijing before he returns to Canada.