On the morning of September 15, 2023, the inauguration ceremony of Zhongfa Aviation Institute of Beihang University (ZFAI) and the opening ceremony for 2023 undergraduates were held in the International Campus in Hangzhou, marking another important step for Beihang in the journey of building high-level Chinese-foreign cooperative education mechanism. Relevant authorities from both China and France attended the event.
Wang Jian, Counselor of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, expressed his warm congratulations on the opening of the institute, and hoped that ZFAI would take this ceremony as a new starting point to make more contributions to Sino-French aviation cooperation and talent cultivation.
Tao Hongjian, First Class Inspector of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange of the Ministry of Education of China, pointed out in his speech that ZFAI is of positive influence in cultivating internationalized engineers in short supply in the field of civil aviation, and in promoting humanistic exchanges and cooperation between China and France.
Zhu Xiumei, Deputy Director of Personnel and Education Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China indicated that the powerful alliance between Beihang and École Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (ENAC) is of great significance in exploring a new paradigm of engineer education and cultivating high-level international talents.
Joan Valadou, Consul General of the Consulate General of France in Shanghai, welcomed the new students and greeted the French teachers. He said that the prospect of Sino-French relationship is bright and broad, and that students in ZFAI will receive excellent aviation engineering education and also get access to French language and culture, becoming an important force in future Sino-French cooperation.
Shu Peidong, Deputy Director of the Department of Education of Zhejiang Province, expressed his hope that the institute will create a new benchmark for Sino-French educational cooperation, build a high-level talent pool, and innovate a high-standard scientific research platform.
Xu Weihua, Vice Mayor of Hangzhou, provincial capital of Zhejiang province, pointed out that with the joint efforts of China and France, ZFAI will become an important source of talents in the field of aviation not only for the city of Hangzhou, but for China and France, and even for the whole world.
At the ceremony, Beihang President Wang Yunpeng, together with other leaders and guests, inaugurated ZFAI.
Afterwards, President Wang Yunpeng and Olivier Chansou, President of ENAC, jointly presented awards to the representatives of new students who won the first Presidential Scholarship.
Representatives of the first batch of university-enterprise partners, namely COMAC, China Southern Airlines, Changlong Airlines and Heron Business Aviation, together with Zhao Weisheng, Assistant to the President of Beihang, and Sun Qingfeng, Secretary of the Party Committee of ZFAI, launched the University-Enterprise Collaboration Partnership Program.
In his speech, Wang Yunpeng, on behalf of Zhao Changlu, Secretary of the Party Committee of Beihang and all the teachers and students of the university, extended his heartfelt congratulations to the freshmen of ZFAI and warmly welcomed the guests and friends from China and France who attended the opening ceremony.
Wang Yunpeng pointed out that over the past five years, China and France have been working hand in hand, steadily promoting the new mechanism of internationalized education cooperation. As the students will kick off their new journey here at ZFAI, he condensed his expectations to the newcomers in three words: ambition, courage and action.
In the future, with the construction of ZFAI as a link, Beihang and ENAC will deepen cooperation in an all-around manner and contribute more wisdom and strength to the reform of the international engineer education training mode.
Reported by Shi Yue
Photographed by Song Chao
Reviewed by Li Jianwei
Edited by Jia Aiping and Lu Meili
Translated by Lu Meili
