In response to the “Belt and Road” Education Initiative, and in order to promote education cooperation and exchange of Chongqing University in areas such as aerospace, communication engineering and power engineering, Chongqing University delegation is on a visit to National Aviation University of Ukraine in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine from March 24 to 29, 2018. The purpose of the visit is to negotiate the agreement between the two universities with respect to cooperative education programs, and discuss cooperation opportunities in education and scientific research with colleges and universities in Ukraine including the National Aviation University. Valery Chepizhenko, vice president of the National Aviation University has visited Chongqing  University in October 2017.

In Kyiv, there is still a chill in the spring air and the snow is dancing in the air. The Ukraine-Chian Culture and Education Development  Center receives the delegation and present the delegation with a bunch of flowers and says Добрий день (good morning in Ukrainian), which makes everyone feel at home.

Professor Volodymyr Isaienko, president of the National Aviation University and an academician of Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, presides over the meeting held at the National Aviation University. Volodymyr Kharchenko, the managing vice president, Valery Chepizhenko, the vice president in charge of international affairs, and deans of School of Aerospace, the School of Avionics and the School of  Power Engineering are also present. President Volodymyr Isaienko gives us an introduction to the to the development target and current situation of the National Aviation University, and expresses his strong support for the proposed cooperative education programs between the two universities in areas such as aircraft engineering (aircraft repairing), communication engineering (avionics) and power engineering. He expresses his hope that with approval of the ministry of education of the two countries, the first students would be enrolled in the next half of 2019, and emphasizes that the proposed cooperative programs would be delivered by the National  Aviation University in English so that the students would not need to learn Ukrainian. President Volodymyr Isaienko adds that the National Aviation University of Ukraine is ranking the 3^rd place among all civil aviation universities in the world, and the diploma issued by the University is recognized by all countries that have signed the Lisbon Aviation Convention. As authorized by ICAO, the National Aviation University has been designated as the only one regional training center of experts on aviation safety in Europe. It is expected to cultivate specialized talents in aviation safety for ICAO utilizing the existing organizations and teaching facilities of the University. The University is also authorized to issue related certificates. Since 2001, the National Aviation University of Ukraine has been acting as the official specialized talents training base for Boeing Company.

Xu Jun, director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, CQU, extends his gratitude towards the arrangement made by the National Aviation University on behalf of the CQU delegation and gives an introduction to the development history, disciplinary advantages and future development directions of Chongqing University. Xu emphasizes that the cooperation between the two universities is completely in response to the “Belt and Road” Initiative, and cooperative programs between the two are also supplementary in advantages and may help with development of local economy. He expresses his hope that the two universities would strengthen the mechanism-based guarantee and declare the programs to the ministry of education of the two countries, so as to acquire policy guarantee for the cooperation. Meanwhile, he also hopes that the teachers and students of the two would strengthen mutual exchange and carry out cooperative scientific researches and proposes that Chongqing University may provide students of the National Aviation University with scholarship for them to study in China .

Accompanied by Volodymyr Kharchenko, the managing vice president of the National Aviation University, the CQU delegation pays a visit to the history museum of the University (the National Aviation Museum), the biggest teaching hangar of Europe, the airborne system, the computer flight simulator and labs of related schools, and has preliminary communication with deans of those schools with respect to the specific programs and cultivation plans. An agreement is reached that Chinese students from related programs may study under the “4+0” framework and will be sent to the National  Aviation University for professional training and practice during a fixed period of time each year.

During the stay in Kyiv, the CQU delegation also pays a visit to University of Kyiv, National University of Tauride, National University of Food Technology and the Office of Culture and Education of Chinese Embassy in Ukraine.

Professor Petro O. Bekh, the vice president of University of Kyiv in charge of scientific research, cultivation and international affairs is present at the meeting with the delegation. The two parties respectively give an introduction to the development history and teaching and scientific research of the two. Professor Petro O. Bekh expresses his willingness to cooperate with Chongqing University in talent exchange, teaching and scientific research after hearing the introduction to Chongqing University. He hopes that the two universities may sign the inter-university cooperation agreement when the officials of Chongqing University visit Ukraine in October 2018. The full name of University of Kyiv is Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, and it is the most famous comprehensive university in Ukraine , founded in 1834. It is playing a significant role among the educational institutions in Europe and in the world and enjoys very good reputation. The University is appraised as the best university in the entire Ukraine and is among the top 500 universities in the world.

Professor Volodymyr Pavlovych KAZARIN, the president of National University of Tauride, is also present at the meeting. He states that the University is currently building a sci-tech industrial park, and hopes that Chongqing University and the National University of Tauride may cooperate with each other. Furthermore, he also expresses his hope that the cooperation focus would be put on joint scientific research and student exchange. The University was founded in 1918 and was at the beginning located in Simferopol. It is the most reputable national university with the longest history, and largest scale throughout Republic of Crimea. In 1999, it was transformed into a national comprehensive university and was relocated to Kyiv.

Professor Anatoliy Ukrainets, the president of the National University of Food Technology, is also present. The National University of Food Technology was founded in 1930 and is mainly engaged in food processing, packaging machinery and technology, pharmacy and microorganism industrial equipment, storage technology and processing of grains, and storage and processing of fruit and vegetables. It is the most reputable food processing university in Ukraine.

At the Office of Culture and Education of Chinese Embassy in Ukraine, Wang Dajun, the first secretary of the Embassy, gives an introduction to the higher education of Ukraine, and promises that the Embassy will support and facilitate the cooperative education between Chongqing University and the National Aviation University.

This is the visit paid by an official delegation of Chongqing University to Ukraine. The delegation is made up of representatives from a number of related schools and departments, including Professor Hu Ning, dean of the School of Aerospace Engineering, Professor Zeng Xiaoping from the School of Communication Engineering, Professor Yang Chen, vice dean of the School of Power Engineering, Xu Jun, dean of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, Wang Hongwei, head of the Cultivation Section of the Office of Teaching Affair, and Gao Xiang, head of the Section of Experts and Exchange of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange. In the week in Kyiv, the delegation fulfills the initial intention of the visit by ways of interview, informal discussion, and field visit, and lays a solid foundation for further cooperation in the future.