Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology (XAUAT) offered credit courses under the Confucius China Studies Program (CCSP) to students of Uzbekistan’s Samarkand State University (SamSU), a member of the SRIAATU, from April to July.

Approved by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education, the 40-hour courses were taught by Professor Chang Haiqing and Associate Professor Li Kun from XAUAT’s College of Architecture.

Professor Chang Haiqing taught “Historic Cities: Protection and Renewal” in online modules. Associate Professor Li Kun taught “Introduction to Urban and Rural Morphology” in a combination of both online and offline modules, and had a 10-day exchange at SamSU. Nearly 40 graduate students from SamSU majoring in archaeology, geography, cartography and other majors participated in the courses.

The project of CCSP credit courses aims to deepen high-level academic exchanges in fields of Sinology and China Studies in China and foreign countries, and to fund credit courses related to Sinology and China Studies taught by Chinese scholars from Chinese universities for students in foreign universities in the form of online modules or a combination of both online and offline modules.

The implementation of the project is an innovation of XAUAT in serving China’s Education Action Plan for the Belt and Road Initiative under the framework of the SRIAATU. While promoting an in-depth integration between Sinology studies and international education in architectural technology, XAUAT has developed a model of international talent training featuring “major + language + culture”.

As XAUAT’s first successful attempt to promote its courses overseas, it marks a solid step in advancing its international cooperation as well as its contribution to promoting the opening up of education and the training of talents in architectural technology along the Belt and Road.