At 8:00 a.m. on August 26, 2022, Beijing time, an online exchange meeting between our university, the University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and the Federal Agricultural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) in Brazil was successfully held. He Ying, Vice President of SBS attended the exchange meeting, and Chen Wei, Deputy Dean of International Education College hosted the activity. Guests attending the exchange meeting included Maria do Socorro de Mendonça Cavalcanti, President of UFPE, Igor Lapsky da Costa Francisco, Director of the Office of International Relations of UFPE, Ricardo Souza Cardoso, Director of the Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and International Relations of UFRPE, Jorge da Silva Correia Neto, Director of the Distance Education Department of UFRPE, Rita de Cassia Carvalho Maia, Director of the International Department of UFRPE, Dai Ying, Deputy Dean of International Education College, and two trainee representatives of the Seminar on Regional Development and Planning for the Municipality of Recife, Brazil organized by the MOFCOM International Business Officials Training Base (Shanghai), Francisco Luiz dos Santos, Professor of UFRPE, and Giovani Savio de Andrade Oliveira, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office (Former) in Recife, Brazil.

Vice President He Ying delivered an opening speech on behalf of our university and introduced ourself from the university’s development history, organizational structure, scale, characteristics, and achievements. She said that our university and the two participating universities have cross-connections and extensive cooperation space in terms of discipline layout, teacher-student exchanges, mutual recognition of credits, mutual recognition of courses, and scientifi research cooperation.

Maria do Socorro de Mendonça Cavalcanti, President of UFPE in Brazil, introduced the nature, scale, international exchanges and cooperation. She said that UFPE and China have established a long-term cooperative relationship, and the Confucius Institute established in 2013 has made important contributions to China-Brazil educational exchanges and cooperation. She looks forward to opening a new chapter of cooperation with our university and helping the friendly development of bilateral relations.

Rita de Cassia Carvalho Maia, Director of International Department of UFRPE, shared and introduced UFRPE from four aspects: education and teaching, scientific research, social services and innovation and entrepreneurship. She said that UFRPE has established cooperative relationships with 67 foreign universities, and suggested that the cooperation with our school should start with the signing of a memorandum of cooperation to lay the foundation for further exchanges and cooperation.

In the next interactive session, Professor Francisco Luiz dos Santos from UFRPE, Igor Lapsky da Costa Francisco, Director of International Relations Office of UFPE, Dai Ying, Deputy Dean, Ricardo Souza Cardoso, Director of Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and International Relations of UFRPE, and others put forward their own suggestions and ideas for cooperation focusing on student exchanges, teaching cooperation, scientific research cooperation, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The University of Pernambuco is one of the most important public universities in the state of Pernambuco. According to the 2021 QS Latin America University Rankings, UFPE ranks 100th, and in the 2021 Times Higher Education University Rankings, ranks 45th among the best universities in Brazil. Furthermore, in the 2017 Folha de S. Paulo rankings, it is considered the best state university in the Northeast for research and internationalization. The Federal Agricultural University of Pernambuco is one of the most important public universities in the state of Pernambuco. It was established in 1912 and is ranked 44th among the best universities in Brazil according to the 2021 Times Higher Education University Rankings.

The MOFCOM International Business Officials Training Base (Shanghai) of our university actively serves the country’s opening-up strategy, continuously improves the quality and effectiveness of training, increases the trainees’ recognition of China, continuously expands the exchanges and cooperation between our university and foreign universities, generates the spillover effect of foreign aid training, and contributes to the international education cooperation and internationalization of SBS.

Written by: Zhou Dejiang

Photos by: Chen Xiaoye

Reviewed by: Chen Wei