Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpoool University: continuing the relationship between Liverpool and China

LONDON, July 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For Professor Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, the joint venture partnership with Xi'an Jiaotong University is the continuation of a long-term relationship between the city of Liverpool and China.

"Liverpool has a very long-established Chinese community," she said. "It was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, in the UK to be settled in the 1860s."

Liverpool was one of the United Kingdom's key ports and from 1834 the city established strong trade links with China that saw boats coming directly from Shanghai bringing silks and cotton wool.

While some Chinese people visited for trade, others found opportunities to settle in the city near the docks where they worked.

Nowadays, the Chinese population in the city is estimated to number more than 25,000, buoyed by the significant numbers of Chinese students who study at the University of Liverpool. Some 65 percent of the University's overseas student population is Chinese, attracted in-part, Professor Beer believes, by the University's reputation in the country: "I think it's partly because we're in the joint venture that we attract students from all over Mainland China and Hong Kong to study," she said.

She believes the "respectful" partnership that created XJTLU has been a key part of its success. She adds that the foresight XJTLU founders had 10 years ago has positioned the University firmly at the forefront of transnational education, leading where other similar developments follow.

"The University of Liverpool and XJTU were far ahead of the curve in terms of the visioning of this partnership and that vision is being fulfilled beyond everybody's wildest expectations," she said.

But it's the speed in which XJTLU has developed, in just 10 years, that has impressed her most: "One of the most amazing things about XJTLU is how far it's come so fast," she said, highlighting the University's unique offer and growing reputation as a collaborator for industry and other universities in both research and continuing professional development education, as well as the development of the postgraduate offer alongside undergraduate programmes.

Professor Beer is excited for XJTLU's future and the continual development of the links between China and Liverpool. She believes the University will consolidate its reputation in terms of its student experience and high-quality education at undergraduate and postgraduate level, in particular the development of research degrees.

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