On December 16, the 23^rd Cross-Strait Symposium on Applied (Technical and Vocational) Higher Education was held online. The symposium was organized by the Beijing Union University with the theme of “Openness, Diversity, Collaboration and Innovation”. Presidents, experts and scholars of sponsors and partners from both sides of the Taiwan Straits conducted discussions on this theme. Xu Jianling, President of SZPT, was invited to deliver a keynote report entitled “Characteristics, Tasks and Paths of Vocational Education System Construction in the Era of Popularization of Higher Education”.

Xu Jianling was invited to deliver a keynote report

SZPTrepresentatives attended the opening ceremony at the Academy of Chinese Studies

Xu Jianling said that as higher education enters the stage of popularization, the development of vocational education should shift from scale expansion to high-quality development, and it is imperative to build a vocational education system in the new era. He elaborated on the tasks and paths of vocational education system construction in the era of popularization of higher education, and taking SZPT as an example, introduced our practice and exploration in the vocational education system construction from four aspects: performing the “innovation and entrepreneurship education”, trying the vocational education at the undergraduate level, implementing the “1+X” certificate system, and integrating education with industry.

In the afternoon, four sub-forums were held for paper exchanges and discussions, themed by “Construction paths and development strategies of the world’s high-level applied colleges and universities”, “Enterprise-school cooperation and science-education cooperation mechanism for applied higher education”, “Technological innovationcapability and competitiveness of applied universities”, “Curriculum teaching reform and innovation research in the Intelligent Age”, and “Teacher development and teaching evaluation models of applied colleges and universities” respectively. Experts and scholars gathered in the cloud to conduct in-depth analysis on the reform and innovation of applied higher education in the future from different perspectives and contribute wisdom to the future development of applied higher education on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. SZPT submitted a total of 11 papers, and the contributing teachers had active exchanges with scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Straits at these sub-forums.

To encourage students to apply their knowledge and provide a platform for students from both sides of the Taiwan Straits to show their creativity, give full play to what they have learned and communicate with each other, the “Ingenuity Cup” Cross-Straits Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was also held during the symposium. A total of 4 teams from sponsors and partners participated in the activity. After fierce competition, our “Bladder Examination Expert” finally won the third prize and the most creative award.

It is reported that the Cross-Strait Symposium on Applied (Technical and Vocational) Higher Education was jointly initiated by Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shanghai Polytechnic University, National Taipei University of Technology, and Beijing Union University in 1999, with the collaboration of Chienkuo Technology University, Lunghwa University of Science and Technology, and Chaoyang University of Technology. It is held annually in turn among colleges and universities on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, and twenty-three sessions have been held so far. The symposium aims to strengthen the communication and exchanges between applied higher education circles on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, explore ways and new ideas for cooperation, and analyze the reform and development of applied higher education under the trend of globalization, so as to jointly promote the development of education on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

(Xia Jingyi, Office of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs)