On October 22, 2021, the preparation meeting for the “China Federation of International Cooperation in Application-Oriented Universities” was held in Shanghai, and NJIT President Shi Jinfei was invited to attend the meeting. Lu Xin (former Vice Minister of Education and President of The Chinese Society for Technical and Vocational Education, CSTVE), Shi Mingde (President of the China Germany Friendship Association and former Chinese Ambassador to Germany), Yang Zhenbin (Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University), and Liu Zhimin (Head of Innovation and Development Division of the National Center for Schooling Development Program) attended the meeting and presented speeches or special reports. The meeting was chaired by Xu Fei (Deputy Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education and President of the Branch of Innovative and Entrepreneurial Education of China Association of Higher Education). Representatives from 46 universities and enterprises across China attended the conference.

Developing high-quality application-oriented talents with international visions is the intrinsic motivation of NJIT to support the development of the local economy and industry. Participating in the preparation work for the China Federation of International Cooperation in Application-Oriented Universities is an important opportunity and initiative for NJIT to implement its internationalization strategy. It has positive impacts on developing the internal dynamics of the university, developing international cooperation and exchange, enhancing the industry-university-research integration and improving the quality of talent training. During the meeting, NJIT President Shi Jinfei held talks with CSTVE President Lu Xin and reported the development of NJIT into a first-class applied engineering university with distinctive features. He also stated that NJIT was a representative of application-oriented universities, and updated her on NJIT ’s participation in the review of the constitution of the China Federation of International Cooperation in Application-Oriented Universities.

The “China Federation of International Cooperation in Application-Oriented Universities” was established by the China Germany Friendship Association, The Chinese Society for Technical and Vocational Education and the German University Consortium for International Cooperation in connection with the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany. Its objective is to enhance the Sino-German education cooperation in the future and promote the internationalization, transformation and development of Chinese application-oriented universities.

The Federation is chaired by the Institute for Industry Research of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and other institutes, and jointly initiated by 77 applied undergraduate universities, high-level vocational colleges, domestic industry associations, and leading industrial businesses across China. It is a national, academic, and non-profit social federation (similar to “the German University Consortium for International Cooperation, DHIK”). It focuses on international cooperation and the integration of industry, university and research, establishes a new platform for Sino-German application-oriented university exchanges, assists in the construction of high-level application-oriented universities, develops high-level applied talented people with international perspectives, and supports the development of modern industries. Consisting of 34 German universities of applied science and technology, DHIK is committed to combining the benefits of personnel training models of German universities of applied science and technology with the higher education of partner countries by exchanges and double-degree program cooperation.