Delegation from Education, Culture and Tourism Division of the ASEAN–China Centre Visits GDUFS

On the morning of September 27, Mr. Hadi Tjahjono, Director of the Education, Culture and Tourism Division of ASEAN–China Centre (ACC), led a delegation to visit Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS). Vice President Shen Minghao welcomed the delegation in the VIP Hall of the Administration Building on the Baiyun Mountain Campus. The two sides held in-depth discussions on translation talent cultivation, regional language services, and China–ASEAN education cooperation, and jointly explored future directions of collaboration.

Highlight from the Meeting

Shen Minghao extended a warm welcome to Mr. Tjahjono and his delegation, and gave a brief introduction to the distinctive features of GDUFS and its achievements in international cooperation. He noted that GDUFS, as the university with the largest number of foreign language programs in South China, currently offers 33 languages, including the official languages of all ten ASEAN Member States (AMS). In the Best Global Universities Rankings released by U.S. News, GDUFS ranks 90th worldwide for “International Collaboration,” with its Humanities and Arts disciplines ranking among the top 165 globally. He emphasized that GDUFS is committed to supporting China–ASEAN people-to-people exchanges and regional development, and expressed his hope to further expand practical cooperation with the ACC in areas such as talent cultivation, joint research, and short-term training programs.

Mr. Tjahjono expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and highly commended GDUFS for its achievements in language education and global and area studies. He noted that the ACC has long been dedicated to promoting practical cooperation between the two sides in six key areas, including trade, culture, education, tourism, and other key sectors. As Director of the Education, Culture and Tourism Division, he expressed his willingness to actively advance deeper cooperation with GDUFS in initiatives such as Chinese language promotion, officials’ training, and cultural and tourism capacity building. He particularly emphasized strengthening resource coordination and joint project development in areas such as Indonesian language instruction and Southeast Asian studies.

During the meeting, both sides agreed on the importance of further leveraging GDUFS’s multilingual and interdisciplinary strengths to jointly build a high-level platform for translation and people-to-people exchanges, with a focus on ASEAN. Mr. Tjahjono specifically highlighted the recent Chinese Translation Training Program for government officials of AMS themed “Language Bridges ASEAN, Translation Leads the Way” hosted by GDUFS, noting its remarkable achievements as a model of cooperation between the ACC and universities. He suggested exploring more short-term training and professional exchange programs in the future.

Group Photo

This visit followed the earlier visit by ACC Secretary-General H.E. Shi Zhongjun, further strengthening the foundation of mutual trust and cooperation between GDUFS and the ACC. It also advanced collaborative efforts in institutionalized exchanges and joint implementation of language education programs.

Representatives from the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange and the School of Interpreting and Translation Studies of GDUFS were also present at the meeting. After the meeting, Mr. Tjahjono and his delegation attended the closing ceremony of the Chinese Translation Training Program for government officials of AMS, themed “Language Bridges ASEAN, Translation Leads the Way,” held at GDUFS.