From October 20 to November 2, a group of 25 excellent undergraduate students (23 Chinese students and 2 French students) from Centrale Pékin (Sino-French Engineer School) of Beihang University participated in a two-week exchange program at l’Ecole Centrale Casablanca with their teachers. The exchange program aimed to enhance students’ teamwork ability and cross-cultural communication skills, as well as to broaden their horizons, which helped to strengthen our communication and exchanges with countries along the Belt and Road and cultivate talents who can meet the national strategic development needs.
The two-week exchange program consisted of three major parts, namely “To conduct the solar-based village innovation project based on teamwork”, “To visit Chinese Embassy in Rabat, the capital of Morocco” and “To visit Huawei Enterprise Northern Africa in Casablanca, Morocco”. After two weeks’ learning, communication and visits, students all believed that they had formed an indissoluble bond with Morocco, gained a new understanding of Africa and developed a deep friendship with African students. In addition, in their spare time, students studied and lived together with the university’ students from other countries in Africa, as well as had in-depth discussions about delicious food, cultures, arts and languages.
During this trip, Beihang students showed excellent international communication skills, project innovation capability and teamwork ability, which was thought highly of by professors from l’Ecole Centrale Casablanca, including Professor Chrifi Habib (teaching Project Management), Professor Touria Barradi (teaching Energy) and Vice President Serge Delle-Vedove, staff working in the embassy and representatives from Huawei. Besides, other staff of l’Ecole Centrale Casablanca were also impressed by the students’ good manners and high personal qualities.
Morocco, one of the most important countries along Belt and Road routes, is also among the first countries in Africa and the Arab world to establish diplomatic ties with China. Over the past 59 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the China-Morocco relationship has been healthier and stabler with the joint efforts of the two sides. In September 2017, Centrale Pékin of Beihang University and l’Ecole Centrale Casablanca signed a bilateral agreement on exchange of students. In May 2018, under the support of Beihang University, the school sent 20 excellent students to attend the 1st China-Morocco Summer School in Casablanca. The 2019 Summer School was the second time Beihang students visited l’Ecole Centrale Casablanca.
Reported by Huang Xingrong
Reviewed by Hong Guanxin
Edited by Jia Aiping
Translated by Feng Yueyue
