On 27 September 2019 CHEF director Susan Wright and CHEF member Jie Gao participated in the 2019 edition of the EU-China Higher Education Platform for Cooperation and Exchange (HEPCE) in Helsinki, Finland.

The HEPCE is a regular event taking place in the framework of the EU-China High-Level People-to-People Dialogue (HPPD), launched in 2012 as the third pillar of EU-China cooperation, together with the EU-China High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue and High Level Strategic Dialogue. The overall aim of the HEPCE is to sustain a dialogue between university leadership from China and the EU.

The HEPCE is co-organised by the European University Association (EUA), the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE), the Mission of China to the EU and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. The event convened around 80 participants, mostly senior institutional representatives responsible for internationalisation and other stakeholders active in EU-China cooperation

This year, the main topic for discussion was “China-Europe university cooperation & balanced mobility”.
To take discussions further, participants were split into different break-out sessions, focusing on three main themes:

i) Inclusive internationalisation strategies
ii) Credit mobility, and
iii) Virtual mobility

Participants shared their experiences and discussed how these issues can be better addressed in the ongoing EU-China cooperation. The event convened around 80 participants, mostly senior institutional representatives responsible for internationalisation and other stakeholders active in EU-China cooperation.