With the theme of “Digital Transformation and Future of Education”, the World Digital Education Conference co-organised by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Ministry of Education of China was successfully held in Beijing from 13 to 14 February 2023. Representatives from over 130 countries and regions attended the Conference. H.E. Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), attended the opening ceremony upon invitation.

On 14 February, Secretary General Shi Zhongjun addressed the forum of “Promoting Innovative Development of Higher Education with Digital Transformation”.

Secretary General Shi pointed out that while the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world economy hard, it has also made online education, shared platforms, collaborative work and cross-border e-commerce more widely used and brought about a paradigm revolution in the field of education. Education digital transformation is a digital process of all factors, all processes, all services, and all domains. Higher education in the future should be personalised, situational and data-driven, and become more interactive, shared, diverse and sustainable. Participants of the conference may explore such paths as building infrastructure, focusing on the cultivation of digital thinking, improving education evaluation methods, and exploring new paths with international partners. The ACC is ready to work together with all partners to jointly promote continuous progress in this field.