Delegation Led by Minister for Education of the Republic of Nauru Visits GDUFS

On the afternoon of June 23, Asterio Appi, Minister for Education of the Republic of Nauru, led a delegation to visit Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS). Vice President Shen Minghao met with the delegation in the VIP Hall of the Administration Building. The two sides held in-depth exchanges on educational cooperation, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and other aspects.

Highlight from the Meeting

Vice President Shen extended a warm welcome to the delegation and provided a comprehensive introduction to GDUFS’s educational strengths and accomplishments in internationalized education. He noted that the university offers instruction in 33 foreign languages, the highest number among universities in South China. Foreign Language and Literature at GDUFS ranks among the top three nationwide and is ranked 101-150 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. Four disciplines, such as Engineering and Social Sciences, General, have been listed among the world’s top 1% in ESI rankings. He added that the university has established partnerships with 523 higher education institutions and scientific research institutions in over 70 countries and regions. He also highlighted the nine sessions of the Pacific Island Countries Young Leaders Program hosted by GDUFS since 2015, which have trained 240 participants from eight Pacific Island countries. Having gained a deep appreciation of the friendship fostered between China and Pacific Island countries through the program and witnessed the increasingly close economic and trade ties, he attached greater importance to the bonding power of cultural and people-to-people exchanges. He stated that GDUFS stands ready to fully leverage its strengths as a platform for cooperation and welcomes more outstanding students and officials from Nauru to participate in exchange programs and pursue further studies at the university. He expressed the hope that the two sides would work together to deepen China–Nauru educational cooperation and deliver concrete outcomes.

Asterio Appi thanked GDUFS for the warm reception and spoke highly of its accomplishments in internationalized education and talent cultivation for Pacific Island countries. He stated that Nauru highly values educational cooperation with China. The purpose of this visit is to enhance mutual understanding, explore cooperation potential, and gain deeper insights into the experience and outcomes of the university’s Pacific Island Countries Young Leaders Program, which will provide reference for Nauru’s own education reform. He hoped to take this visit as an opportunity to promote substantive cooperation in areas such as student dispatch programs, academic collaboration, and short-term cultural exchange programs, thereby injecting new vitality into friendly relations between Nauru and China.

Group Photo

Representatives from the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, the School of Global and Area Studies, the Institute for International Education, and the Guangdong Research Institute for International Studies attended the meeting. After the meeting, the delegation visited the GDUFS History Museum.

Visiting the GDUFS History Museum