A meeting of education workers dispatched to Chinese embassies and consulates abroad was held in Beijing on Jan. 11–12, to discuss how to push China’s international educational exchange and cooperation to a new level in 2024. Education Minister Huai Jinpeng discussed various issues with participants at the meeting. Vice Minister of Education Wang Jiayi discussed the training and development of education diplomats and the composition of that workforce. Vice Minister of Education and Chair of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO Chen Jie reported the Commission’s work in 2023.

The meeting reviewed achievements in education-related foreign affairs over the past year. It highlighted, among other things, breakthroughs in promoting international cooperation in STEM education and digital education, which enabled China to achieve a leading role in global education governance. It also underscored significant progress in pushing forward educational cooperation with Belt and Road Initiative countries, facilitating student and faculty exchange with the world’s top universities, and increasing educational cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

With regards to related work in 2024, the meeting stressed the need to broaden areas of educational cooperation so as to boost China’s modernization drive. In particular, education-related diplomatic workers were encouraged to create new cooperation projects and take responsible actions in implementing global development, security, and cultural initiatives; conduct comparative studies to explore innovative and effective means of cooperation; and increase their capacity for establishing and maintaining partnerships to ensure long-term and stable educational cooperation.

The meeting also specified plans to increase capacity building for education diplomats by employing a broader vision and providing more tangible support measures.