Recently, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kretschmann (Chinese name: Yugen Ke) took up the post of President of Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (hereinafter referred to as “BiUH”) and visited Hainan Li’an International Education Innovation Pilot Zone in Lingshui, Hainan. Professor Ke is the first president of the first independent university in mainland China established by an overseas higher education institution.
In the discussion organized by the Administration Bureau of Li’an International Education Innovation Pilot Zone (the Pilot Zone), Mr. Ming Liu, the leader of the Administration Bureau, who is in charge of the daily work of the Bureau, welcomed Professor Ke of BiUH and his delegation. He said, the establishment of Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences was a milestone both for the opening up of China’s education in the new era and for the construction of Hainan Province’s international education and innovation island. Professor Naijia Guan also took up her post as the Executive President of BiUH, at the same time.
BiUH will start in the fall semester of 2023, it is planning to offer two majors and to enroll 140 students. BiUH has introduced the Practice-embedded Talent Training model of Hochschule Bielefeld – University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSBI) from Germany. Prof. Dr. Ingeborg Schramm-Wölk, President of HSBI in Germany, particularly emphasized: “The Practice-embedded Talent Training model is especially attractive to the Chinese education sector and enterprises.”
In May 2023, BiUH was established with the approval of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, and was registered as a private non-profit higher education institution with relevant Chinese authorities in the following month, June 2023. During the establishment of the school, it was a project of the German Academic Exchange Center’s “Transborder Projects” (TNB Projects) and received financial support from the German Ministry of Education and Research. The People’s Government of Hainan Province and the People’s Government of Danzhou City also provided strong support in terms of funding and policy development.
During this visit, Professor Ke Yugen was impressed by the internationally advanced level of the Pilot Zone of Lingshui and the excellent work of the project team. President Professor Ke, Executive President Professor Guan and the project team said they were “delighted” that the BiUH project would become a landmark project in the history of educational development in Germany and China, and they were determined to go all out to continue the success of BiUH.
