From October 25 to 26, 2025, the second "Experience China" academic exchange for international graduate students at Jiangsu universities — and the first such event for the wider Yangtze River Delta region — was held at Jiangsu University. Hosted by the China Scholarship Council and organized by the Foreign Students Education Management Research Committee of the Jiangsu Higher Education Association and Jiangsu University, the event brought together more than 400 Chinese and international graduate students and their faculty mentors from 55 universities across Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Anhui. Under the theme "Academic Exploration and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations," they engaged in in-depth academic exchange. ZJSU took an active part and, on the strength of solid scholarship and innovative research, won three awards: Second Prize for Academic Papers, Award of Excellence for Academic Papers, and Best Academic Poster. The results showcase the high-quality development of the University's international student education and the academic caliber of its international students.
As a major platform for international education exchange among universities in the Yangtze River Delta, the event featured three parallel forums — science/engineering/agriculture, biomedicine, and humanities/law/economics/management — alongside paper presentations, poster sessions, keynote lectures and a "Dialogue of Young International Scholars." These sessions built an interdisciplinary, cross-regional bridge between Chinese and international graduate students. Attaching great importance to the opportunity, ZJSU ran an internal selection and assembled a team of international graduate students from a range of disciplines. They polished papers and posters around strategic management and digital transformation, and around artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, demonstrating the University's research strength and talent cultivation in these fields.
In the paper-presentation session, students from ZJSU presented their work at the humanities/law/economics/management and science/engineering/agriculture forums. Leslie, from the School of Business Administration (MBA School), offered an in-depth analysis of the critical role of digital transformation in innovation capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, proposing regionally coordinated innovation solutions. His rigorous argumentation and practice-oriented perspective won unanimous recognition from the reviewers and earned him Second Prize for Academic Papers. Tariq, from the School of Computer Science and Technology, focused on the fast-growing field of autonomous driving; his findings carry strong practical value and were recognized with the Award of Excellence for Academic Papers. In the poster session, Leslie drew crowds of Chinese and international faculty and students with a clear structure, rich data visualization and innovative insights. Reviewers praised the poster as "combining academic depth with strong visual presentation" and awarded him Best Academic Poster. ZJSU also received the Award for Outstanding Organization, one of only 15 universities so honored.
These honors are not only recognition of our international students' academic ability; they also reflect the longstanding ZJSU commitment to open, quality-centered education and the high-quality development of international student programs. In recent years, building on its strong disciplinary base, ZJSU has steadily refined its international student training system — offering English-taught degree programs, building international academic exchange platforms, and promoting cross-cultural integration projects for Chinese and international students — in order to cultivate global professionals with professional competence and cross-cultural communication skills. Going forward, the University will deepen international education cooperation with peers across the Yangtze River Delta, giving international graduate students more opportunities to exchange and grow, and helping them become friendly ambassadors linking academic dialogue and mutual learning between Chinese and international civilizations.
Reflections
Leslie (Ghana): Taking part in this academic exchange was a deeply meaningful experience that greatly broadened my academic and professional horizons. Interacting with researchers from different fields exposed me to fresh perspectives and interdisciplinary approaches to real-world challenges. The feedback and insights shared by professors and experts not only helped me sharpen my research ideas but also pushed me to think more critically about methodology and real-world application. Winning Second Prize for my paper and Best Poster was a huge encouragement and confirmed the value of focused effort and continuous learning. On the trip home I carried not only awards but renewed motivation, and a clearer sense of my research path. None of this would have been possible without the careful guidance and support of my supervisor, Professor Xiao Yuchun, and without the opportunities my school and the University provided.
Tariq (Pakistan):
Participating in this event was a highly valuable experience. I was able to share my own research ideas, and draw on the insights of other scholars while taking part in thought-provoking discussion on emerging research trends. Every session was intellectually stimulating and broadened my academic outlook, and my conversations with fellow participants built meaningful academic connections. I am truly grateful to the University for the precious opportunity and support, which have greatly enriched my research experience and given an important boost to my career development.
