Lincoln continues to set sights on China

Lincoln continues to set sights on China

Heading into the year of the sheep, Lincoln University is looking to capitalise on the inroads made in 2014 to build further momentum in its business relationships with China, believing the opportunities to be significant.

According to Education New Zealand, only 7 per cent of Chinese students studying in New Zealand do so in the Canterbury region, while 72 per cent choose to study in Auckland. These stark statistics formed part of this week’s China Connection conference, organised by the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, of which Lincoln University attended.

The conference was aimed at helping South Island based businesses and education providers increase the value of their relationships with China.

Lincoln University attended the education providers’ part of the conference to explore ways to further strengthen and capitalise on its growing and increasingly significant relationships with a range of Chinese businesses and tertiary institutions.

“The University has been steadily building a fairly impressive business profile with China in recent times,” says Lincoln University Business Development Manager, Dr Sam Yu. “We’re keen to explore ways to develop this further, which would prove valuable for both the University and the Canterbury region as a whole.”

One significant development is the Memorandum of Understanding signed in November last year with Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, one of the largest dairy companies in China.

The agreement was signed by Yili Chairman, Mr Pan Gang, and the Vice-Chancellor of Lincoln University, Dr Andrew West, in the presence of President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister John Key, during the President's visit to New Zealand.

A visiting delegation of senior management from Yili and its New Zealand subsidiary, Oceania Dairy, has since visited Lincoln for further discussions.

Most recently, the University organised Chinese New Year celebrations with the Christchurch Chinese Embassy and the New Zealand College of Business, whose students are located on campus, allowing them to more readily pathway into higher-level Lincoln qualifications. Among the guests were Mr Xin Li, Vice Consul-General and Mr Charlie Li, Consul for Education, both from the Embassy.

“This was a nice way to set the scene for the upcoming academic year; a year which we hope we build on the significant inroads we have made with prestigious Chinese organisations,” says Dr Yu.

Just some of these organisations include China Agricultural University (a partner with Lincoln in the Euroleague for Life Sciences), North Western Agricultural and Forestry University and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science. All of whom were visited in 2014 by a Lincoln University delegation which included the Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor International and Business Development, Jeremy Baker. The delegation also met with officials from the Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Demonstration Zone.

Lincoln is also developing research collaborations in food science in Southern China with institutes such as Jinan University, Guangdong Ocean University, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, and the Chinese Academy of Science; and in agribusiness and commerce with Yunnan University, Yunnan Normal University, and Yunnan Agricultural University.

“Several students have since come to Lincoln on study abroad programs and for postgraduate research as a result of these senior management visits, and an exchange partnership arrangement with Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University will see staff arriving at Lincoln next month.

“At the heart of all these partnerships is the goal of exploring innovative ways of raising productivity while reducing environmental impacts. We also emphasise the whole value chain approach to developing sustainable, high-value premium products.

“This approach is well received by local researchers in China. Food safety is a serious issue in China, so customers rely heavily on trusted brands,” says Dr Yu.

Developments have also seen visits to Lincoln by Chinese delegations. A large contingent from Tsinghua University, Kunming University of Science and Technology and China's Ministry of Housing and Rural-Urban Development recently came to Lincoln’s School of Landscape Architecture for a three-week partnership program to explore ways to better design, manage and monitor national parks and protected areas in both countries.

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