On the afternoon of Sept. 28, 2022, with the theme of “Innovation and High-Quality Development”, the 15th Sino-Germany Symposium of Applied Higher Education and the 2nd Symposium of International Cooperation for Dual-System Education in Yangtze-Delta Region kicked off in Hefei and Osnabrück both online and offline simultaneously. Since 2008 the Sino-Germany Symposium of Applied Higher Education has been held alternatively in China and Germany, while the latter, sponsored by Anhui Education Department and undertaken by Hefei University, has been held annually in Hefei since 2021.

Christian Wulff, former President of Germany, remarked that as an essential platform for academic exchanges, this Symposium had been bridging Sino-Germany mutual understandings. Moreover, 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Sino-Germany diplomatic relations, so with this as a new starting point, he hoped that both sides would proceed with more resources sharing and practical cooperation to create more demonstration projects in the field of industry-school integrated education for win-win mutual benefits and positive interactions.  

Governor of Anhui Province, Wang Qingxian, addressed that the last three decades witnessed the cooperation between the applied higher education institutions in Anhui Province and their counterparts in Germany, while the “Continental Class”, co-set by Hefei University and Continental AG, and the “Volkswagen College”, by Hefei University and Volkswagen AG modeled for the promoted industry-school integration.

Stephan Weil, Minister-President of Lower Saxony, stated that among the cooperative outcomes between Hefei University and Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences in decades, the Sino-Germany Symposium of Applied Higher Education is definitely the most outstanding one, so he hoped that both sides, taking advantage of the Symposium, would expedite communication through diversified channels to consolidate mutual trust and expand cooperation.

   Besides the aforementioned guests, attendees also included Thomas Hanschke, former President of Clausthal University of Technology, Bj?rn Thümler, Minister of the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony, Wu Chunmei, President of Hefei University, and Andreas Bertram, President of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, who made keynote speeches as well.