By Danielle Duan
Head, Emerging Markets International Cooperation / OIPA
Kicking off a 11-day official mission to the People’s Republic of China, AIT President Kazuo Yamamoto called on Dr. Lulu Tian, Deputy Secretary-General China Scholarship Council in Beijing to discuss enhanced cooperation and renewal of AIT’s scholarship agreement with the CSC.
Dr. Tian Lulu, who is currently a member of the AIT Board of Trustees, warmly welcomed the AIT delegation led by President Yamamoto on 8 March 2024, and confirmed CSC’s support for annual scholarships earmarked to AIT for the next four-year period.
CSC has sponsored Chinese students to study in AIT at master and doctoral levels for the past 11 years, and the president’s courtesy visit came 8 years after the current bilateral agreement was signed in 2016.
President Yamamoto thanked Dr. Tian for CSC’s continued support and briefed her on AIT’s strategy to deepen cooperation in China, stressing how the institute’s diversity and networks can benefit Chinese students and partners.
Dr. Tian agreed, saying that CSC values its cooperation with AIT, and the increased number of Chinese students to AIT over the past four years has been a very positive development. “Together we can cultivate more international talent,” she said. “The Ministry of Education stresses international engagement for Chinese students, and AIT represents this idea,” she added.
The meeting, which was also attended by Ms. Xia Qing, Deputy Director, Division of European, Asian and African Affairs, CSC and Ms. Liu Wanying, Project Officer, Division European, Asian and African Affairs, CSC, involved a frank exchange for improving the bilateral partnership into the long term.
To extend her good wills and advice, Dr. Tian recommended that fine-tuning the enforcement of the academic requirements will increase AIT’s reputation in China and word-of-mouth among prospective applicants. She also recommended that AIT redouble its marketing efforts in China to attract top-flight candidates to apply for admission, “Even the best merchandise needs advertising.” She cited a well-known expression in China to underscore her point.
The deputy secretary-general further encouraged AIT to participate in CSC-organized educational fairs planned for 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand in May and at various locations in mainland China in October every year. President Yamamoto invited Dr.Tian to visit AIT in May during her mission to Thailand. He was accompanied on the visit by Mr. Shawn P. Kelly, Executive Director, Office of International and Public Affairs; Dr. Chaklam Silpasuwanchai, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Information Management; and Ms. Danielle Duan, Head of Emerging Markets International Cooperation.
