A delegation led by Hajalalaina Aime Richard, president of the University of Fianarantsoa in Madagascar, pays a visit to Zibo, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A delegation led by Hajalalaina Aime Richard, president of the University of Fianarantsoa in Madagascar, recently paid a visit to Zibo, Shandong province.

Cui Huanyong, vice-president of Shandong University of Technology (SDUT), gave a briefing on the development of SDUT and previous cooperation efforts with African universities. He said that the university attaches great importance to internationalization and has set forth an international cooperation plan this year which includes partnering each college with a high-level foreign university to elevate the quality of teaching and research.

Cui expressed his hope that both universities can collaborate in areas such as agricultural breeding, renewable energy, and international Chinese education, as well as work towards implementing and refining the outcomes of their cooperation.

Hajalalaina said that the University of Fianarantsoa highly values its partnership with SDUT. He said he hoped to build upon the existing foundation for cooperation between Zibo and Haute Matsiatra in areas such as agriculture, solar power generation, and international Chinese education. He also expressed a desire to help students studying Chinese and professional courses at SDUT enhance the internationalization and educational quality of the University of Fianarantsoa.