On 25 April 2021, ASEAN-China Centre (ACC)successfully heldthe First Session of the “2021 Online Briefings on Enrollment Policies of Chinese Universities towards ASEAN Member States (AMS)”. Mr. Yaya Sutarya, Education Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in China, Mr. Phoxay Thepvilayvong, Education Counselor of the Lao Embassy in China, and Mr. Allen Carillo, Third Secretary and Vice Counsellor of the Philippine Embassy in China, attended the virtual meeting. Ms. He Wei, Education Officerof the Education, Culture, and Tourism Division of ACC, chaired the briefings. 

Nine Chinese universities, including Shandong University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Central University of Finance and Economics, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, East China Normal University, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Hainan Tropical Ocean University,  College of Chinese &ASEAN Arts of Chengdu University and Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, successively delivered presentations about basic information of each university, characteristic disciplines, latest enrollment policies, employment and development, and experience sharing of studying and living in China. More than 1,000 people, including teachers, students and parents of related AMSschools and colleges,watched the briefings via Zoom, Facebook, and other platforms. 

The presentation lasted from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with enthusiastic responses. Audiences interacted actively with relevant universities. Mr. YayaSutarya, delivered a closing remarks on behalf of AMS embassies in China. He highly praised the efficiency and practicability of the briefing and expressed strong willingness to continue to promote in-depth educational exchanges and cooperation between ASEAN and China. He also expressed his enthusiastic expectation for ACC to continue to organize such events for ASEAN students.

With the historical breakthrough of China and ASEAN becoming each other’s largest trading partners in the first half of 2020and the signing of RCEP in November 2020, more students from ASEAN countries have decided to study and live in China. The implementation of the “2021 Online Briefings on Enrollment Policies of Chinese Universities towards AMS” aims to build a platform to further promote educational exchanges between China and AMS, and help ASEAN students and their parents who wish to study in China to obtain more comprehensive, realistic and timely information about the topic.