Zhao Shengtian, President of Binzhou Medical University (BMU), met with Ghanaian Ambassador to China Winfred Hammond and his delegation visiting BMU on the morning of July 16. The Ghanaian side present at the meeting also included Kwartemaa Hammond, wife of Ghanaian Ambassador to China, Francis Oboku, minister counsellor of Ghana Embassy in China, Ivy Tang, administrative assistant and interpreter, Jayda Hammond, daughter of Ghanaian Ambassador to China, and Daniel Abbiw, personal assistant to the Ambassador of Ghana in China. The Chinese side included Zhou Lianshun, member of the Party Committee and head of the Organization Department of the Party Committee of BMU, Wan Hong, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Yantai Municipal People's Government, other officials of the office, and those from the International Cooperation and Exchanges Office and the School of International Studies of BMU.
On behalf of BMU, Zhao Shengtian extended a warm welcome to Mr. Hammond and his delegation and noted that the ambassador's visit to BMU fully reflected the embassy's high recognition and attention to the bilateral relationship. He introduced the history, evolution, scale, and characteristics of BMU to the guests, especially focusing on the university's school-running pattern of two advantages and two specialties, development of the faculty, talent training, discipline building, and international cooperation. He noted that BMU attaches great importance to international exchanges and cooperation and has carried out substantive activities in sharing educational resources, sending visiting scholars, joint training of talents, academic research cooperation, attracting talents from overseas, and cooperation in and co-construction of hospitals. He hoped both sides could take this opportunity to jointly expand educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries and contribute to deepening the friendship between the two countries.
Mr. Hammond thanked BMU for the warm reception. He noted that Ghana and China had a long history of friendship and extensive cooperation and exchanges in economy, trade, culture, education, and health care since the establishment of diplomatic relations. He thanked BMU for its efforts in medical personnel training for Ghana and cultural exchanges with Ghana over the years. He hoped that the two sides would continue to strengthen friendly exchanges, deepen pragmatic cooperation in education, achieve mutual benefits and common development, create a model for international student education, and promote friendly cooperation between China and Ghana. He wished that the friendship between Ghana and Shandong and BMU could last forever.
At the meeting, Zheng Yuanhua, Dean of the School of International Studies, introduced the education of international students at BMU.
After the meeting, Mr. Hammond and his delegation visited the Large-Scale Instrument and Equipment Center, Simulated Operating Room, Diagnostic Training Room, Medical Research Center, and other related laboratories as well as international student apartments and other places of BMU. The delegation learned in detail about education and teaching management, integration of production and education, scientific research achievements, university-industry cooperation, campus culture, and international students' life at the university. The ambassador also met with Ghanaian students at BMU and encouraged them to study hard and contribute to the development of medicine back in the motherland and the friendship between China and Ghana.
He noted that the trip to BMU was very successful and hoped that the two sides would work together to strengthen cooperation and exchanges between Ghana and BMU in medical education and other fields, create more development opportunities, and drive the cooperation between the two sides to a new level.
At present, BMU has 16 international cooperation platforms, 7 international joint graduate and doctoral programs. It has 377 foreign students from 32 countries, including 159 African students, of whom 28 are Ghanaian students. The internationalization level of education at BMU has been continuously improved.
SOURCE: News Center
BY: Chen Xikun
