On the afternoon of April 2, Mr. Ma Yansheng, the former Education Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in France, invited by the International Department of Shanghai University and UTSEUS, brought a lecture, themed on “Features and Advantages of French Higher Education”, to the faculty and students at Lehu Building of Shanghai University. The relevant officials of the International Department of Shanghai University, UTSEUS, and the faculty and students from different colleges attended the lecture.
Before the lecture, Mr. Ma Yansheng visited UTSEUS, and Mr. Zhang Xiaotian, Minister of the International Department of Shanghai University, Mr. Liu Jianyong, the Party Secretary of UTSEUS, Mr. Lei Zuosheng, the Vice President of academic affairs, Mr. Xu Tao, the Vice President of foreign affairs, and Mr. Zhou Yi, Head of student affairs, held a meeting to welcome Mr. Ma Yansheng, conducting in-depth exchanges on the development of Shanghai University, the international development strategy, and the development direction of UTSEUS. Mr. Liu Fei, director of the European region of the International Department of Shanghai University, also attended the meeting.
The lecture held in the afternoon centered on the theme of the features and advantages of French higher education, Mr. Ma Yansheng introduced the different types of French institutions of higher learning, the scale of the schools, the proportion of foreign students and the education system through detailed data, and analyzed the revolution of French higher education in recent years which showed a general overview of French higher education. Combining his own work experience in France, Mr. Ma Yansheng also introduced the French elite education system, high-level elite talent training characteristics and major disciplines, focusing on the French engineer education system. He also gave an in-depth analysis of the differences of French comprehensive universities, specialized institutions and colleges. In the end, Mr. Ma Yansheng highlighted that UTSEUS as an engineering school run by Sino-French cooperation is an extension of the French elite education. This is an inspiration to UTSEUS students and also an affirmation of the achievements to UTSEUS.
On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, Mr. Ma Yansheng’s visit and lecture enabled the faculty and students to have a deeper understanding of the features and advantages of French higher education, and provided valuable reference to the development, management and internationalization strategy of Shanghai University.
Mr. Ma Yansheng was once, the Education Counselor of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, the Deputy Permanent Representative of China to UNESCO, the Education and Culture Counselor of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, the Vice President of Beijing Foreign Studies University, and the Minister Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in France. In December 2003, he was awarded the honorary citizen by the mayor of Houston, USA, and was appointed as the “Goodwill Ambassador”. In March 2019, he was awarded the “Academic Palm Knight” medal by the French government.
