On March 27th, the Fifth Council of the Hunan Education International Exchange Association held its second general meeting at Xiangtan Institute of Technology. Wu Deping, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Hunan Provincial Education Examination Institute, Chen Zuihua, Honorary President of the Hunan Education International Exchange Association and former Director of the Provincial Education Examination Institute, Li Jiwu, President of the Hunan Education International Exchange Association and former Deputy Inspector of the Provincial Education Department, and Zhou Fangyou, Director of the International Exchange Office of the Provincial Education Department, attended the meeting, along with leaders and guests from more than 120 member units representing various levels and types of schools in the province. The meeting was chaired by Pan Songqiu, Vice President and Secretary General of the Hunan Education International Exchange Association.

Yuan Libin, President of Xiangtan Institute of Technology, delivered a welcome speech, warmly welcoming leaders and experts from universities in the province. He stated that Xiangtan Institute of Technology attaches great importance to international exchanges and cooperation, and has established internationalization as one of the important strategies for the development of the university.

In July 2023, the university sent more than 30 students to Hong Kong for study and exchange; in January 2024, Xiangtan Institute of Technology signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Applied Sciences in Furtwangen, Germany, to carry out mutual visits and exchanges of teachers and students, jointly cultivate talents, and make efforts to promote government cooperation and industrial and enterprise cooperation through inter-school cooperation.

Li Jiwu, President of the Fifth Council, presented the work report for 2023 to the conference. He comprehensively summarized the series of achievements made in the international exchange work of the education system in Hunan Province in 2023, learned from the spirit of the Central Foreign Affairs Work Conference, the National Education Work Conference, the Seminar on High-level Education Exchange and Cooperation, and the "Decision of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and the Hunan Provincial People's Government on Accelerating the Construction of a Strong Education Province", and made arrangements and plans for the work in 2024.

All the member representatives deliberated and passed the association's work report and financial report for 2023, as well as proposals related to adding five new member units, including Changsha Health College, and adding Yuan Zhangjun as a member of the association's expert committee.

Wu Deping, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Hunan Education Examination Institute, delivered a speech on behalf of the Provincial Education Department, giving full affirmation to the work of the association, and putting forward three expectations for the future development of the association: first, to improve its position, strengthen overall planning and coordination. It is necessary to enhance awareness of international education exchange, closely focus on the construction of a strong education province, focus on the central work of the Provincial Education Department, and serve the international education exchange of Hunan Province and the construction of a strong education province. Second, optimize services, give full play to the role of the association, connect with the government, the market, and society, and provide good services for government decision-making and the development of member units. Third, standardize management and strengthen self-construction. It is necessary to strengthen party building work, solidly promote the standardization and regularization of branch construction, integrate party building into business work, and serve and promote the central work.

The conference specially invited Jiang Haishan, President of the Shanghai Education International Exchange Association, to give a special lecture. President Jiang, as a senior expert in education international exchange in China, elaborated on the profound significance and important role of non-governmental education foreign affairs from multiple perspectives, proposed practical and feasible operation modes, and sparked lively discussions and deep thinking among the participants.

In the afternoon of the 27th, the meeting was divided into two groups, undergraduate colleges and vocational colleges, for in-depth exchanges and sharing. Zhou Fangyou, Director of the International Exchange Office of the Provincial Education Department, and representatives from colleges and universities conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on topics such as Sino-foreign cooperative education, studying in China, and temporary going abroad, and answered questions and provided guidance on the difficulties encountered by various colleges and universities.

This conference deepened the understanding of universities in the province on the new situation of international education exchange and will surely play a positive role in promoting international exchange and cooperation work among universities in the province.