On April 13, a presidential delegation consisting of presidents and deans from the University of Zagreb and the University of Osijek in Croatia visited our university. Chen Rong, Vice President of our university, met with the president's delegation in the conference room on the 4th floor of Yicheng Science and Technology Innovation Center at Yanta Campus. The heads of the Office of International Affairs, the College of Art, and the School of Language, Literature and Law attended the meeting.

At the meeting, Chen Rong extended a warm welcome to the president's delegation and gave a brief introduction to the university’s history, disciplinary strengths, and international development. He pointed out that from cultural exchanges along the ancient Silk Road to mutual trust and connectivity under the joint Belt and Road Initiative, people-to-people exchanges between the two sides have grown increasingly close, and educational cooperation has become a highlight of bilateral relations. In 2025, the Confucius Institute at the University of Zagreb sent 51 teachers and students to our university for exchange visits through the “Chinese Bridge” program of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, laying a solid foundation for friendly exchanges between the two sides. He expressed hope that the three universities will leverage the platform of the Silk Road International Alliance of Architectural and Technological Universities to carry out in-depth exchanges and joint research across the whole architectural science and technology chain, share academic resources, jointly cultivate top talents, boost innovative development, and write a new chapter in higher education exchanges and cooperation between China and Croatia.

Yasenka Ostojić, Jurica Pavičić, Vice Rectors of the University of Zagreb, and Jurislav Babić, Vice Rector of the University of Osijek, expressed sincere gratitude for the warm hospitality extended by our university. They unanimously stated that this exchange had offered them a more comprehensive and in-depth insight into our university’s history, academic development, and international cooperation accomplishments. They also emphasized that the three universities share highly aligned institutional positioning and development visions. Taking the opportunity of joining the Silk Road International Alliance of Architectural and Technological Universities, the two Croatian universities are ready to deepen practical cooperation in talent cultivation and academic research, to advance China–Croatia higher education exchanges to a deeper level, and deliver more fruitful outcomes.