Leaders in the field of education and government representatives from the UK and China gathered in London on Friday 21 November to celebrate 40 years of student exchanges between the two countries and confirm their commitment to facilitating another 40 years of such exchanges.

Ruth Hannant, Higher Education Director of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, attended the UK-China Mobility Forum, jointly organised by the British Council and the Chinese Embassy in the UK. She was joined by Sir Martin Davidson, CEO of the British Council, and His Excellency Liu Xiaoming, China’s Ambassador to the UK.

The event brought together representatives from the UK and Chinese governments, alumni of UK-China exchanges and sector experts to celebrate and reflect on the successes of the past 40 years. It was also an opportunity for the UK and China to reaffirm their commitment to facilitating another 40 years of student exchanges and discuss strategies for achieving this.

Sir Martin Davidson, CEO of the British Council, said: “We know that there is nothing more important than for our young people to meet each other, learn from each other, and build relationships for their futures. I’m delighted that the last 40 years has seen such a growth in student exchange between the UK and China and hope the next 40 sees much more. But while the focus up to now has been on young people from China going to the UK, the next 40 must focus more on young people from the UK going to China.”

In his speech, H.E. Ambassador Liu said, “Sino-UK student exchange is built on a foundation of positive relations between our two countries. This sustains the student exchanges and drives its momentum. For our two nations the student exchange greatly advances our people-to-people interaction and builds a great bridge and bond between the people of China and Britain. It is my very sincere hope that the UK will continue to be a primary partner with China for student exchange. I am confident that with joint efforts, we will harvest even richer fruit and write a more splendid chapter for China-UK student exchange in the next forty years.”

1973 marks an important year for student exchanges between the UK and China, as it was the year the Great Britain China Educational Trust was established, which seeks to support UK-China student mobility and promote study of the Chinese language. In the 40 years since, student exchanges between the two countries have flourished and there are now 135,000 Chinese students studying in the UK.

By comparison, only 5,400 UK students are in China, but this number is growing rapidly, thanks to initiatives such as the British Council’s Generation UK-China campaign, which is by BIS, DELNI and Welsh Government and seeks to increase the number of UK students going to China to 80,000 by 2020.

The Student Mobility Forum saw keynote speeches from notable alumni of UK-China exchanges, such as Ms Fuchsia Dunlop, who, after studying at Sichuan University in 1994, has gone on to become an authority on Chinese cuisine. This was followed by a panel discussion on how increased student mobility can help address the challenges facing the UK and China, such as unemployment and economic development, and what strategies are needed to secure continued student exchanges between the two countries.