The South and Southeast Asian University Rectors Forum is held in Kunming, Yunnan province on Nov 26. 

The South and Southeast Asian University Rectors Forum, sponsored by Yunnan University, was held in Kunming, Yunnan province on Nov 26.

Presidents and school representatives from 20 South and Southeast Asian universities and 30 Chinese universities gathered at the forum to discuss international cooperation and development in higher education and the possibility and path of building a China-South and Southeast Asian Higher Education Community to create a new era for the coordinated development of regional higher education.

The forum is a major response to the Belt and Road Initiative, and received strong support from the Department of Education and the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan.

It reflects both the high priority attached to the internationalization of higher education in Yunnan province and the long history of exchange and cooperation between Yunnan University and South and Southeast Asian universities. 

Zhu Huashan, deputy director of the Department of Education of Yunnan, addresses the opening ceremony.

Zhu Huashan, deputy director of the Department of Education of Yunnan, addressed the opening ceremony. Zhu commented on conditions in Yunnan and the achievements made in higher education in recent years. 

He said that the cooperation and exchanges between higher education institutions in Yunnan and South and Southeast Asian countries are of vital importance in promoting higher education and social progress. 

Zhu added that he hopes further cooperation with South and Southeast Asian universities in education, scientific research and discipline construction will be carried out via the forum.