- The Education Ministers' Meeting of China and Central Asia focusing on enhancing educational
- Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui emphasized the importance of education for stability and prosperity
- Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng proposed developing a collaborative higher education system
Key agreements included the establishment of a China-Kazakhstan elite engineers institute and joint research centers, furthering integration between industry and education in the region.
The Education Ministers' Meeting of China and Central Asia was conducted on Monday in Urumqi, the capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, further enhancing educational exchanges between China and the five Central Asian countries.
Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui stated during a welcome speech that education is the foundation of long-term stability and prosperity in Xinjiang. Xinjiang will establish a more robust education system and further cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, particularly the Central Asian countries, said Ma.
Xinjiang's higher education institutions are funded to facilitate education and cultural exchanges with the five nations through measures like co-establishing Confucius Institutes and pushing overseas study, he added.
Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng described both parties as sharing an important mission in national growth and cultural exchange and having made significant achievement over the past few years through mutual learning and innovation.
In order to further deepen mutual cooperation, Huai suggested developing a collaborative higher education system and creating a state-of-the-art research institution in Xinjiang for the use of regional development. He also appealed for furthering vocational education geared towards local requirements and building mutually shared digital education resources.
The ministers of education of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan also spoke during the meeting.
Several accomplishments were made known in the course of the meeting, such as China–Central Asia industry education integration alliance initiation and the Central Asia institute of the world's teacher development college.
Other key agreements included the signing of China-Kazakhstan elite engineers institute, and opening of joint global research centers like an international medical center in Astana and crop breeding laboratory between Silk Road Economic Belt participating countries, the ministry said
