The two-week advanced training programme for 24 senior academics from Pakistani universities concluded at Tianjin Foreign Studies University, marking another milestone in cooperation under the CPEC University Consortium. The programme brought together faculty from across Pakistan to study developments in AI-empowered education, intelligent manufacturing and the cultural dimensions of academic innovation.
Li Yingying, President of Tianjin Foreign Studies University, and Zhu Pengxiao, Vice President of TFSU, joined Aayesha Ikram, Director General (Global Engagement) at the Higher Education Commission Pakistan, at the opening ceremony. President Li described the course as an enriching journey of exploration that combined cutting-edge topics such as AI-empowered education with insights into the heritage of craftsmanship and China’s intelligent manufacturing sector, and she encouraged participants to translate learning into practice.
Director General Aayesha Ikram highlighted the role of the HEC as an autonomous regulator and funding body tasked with steering Pakistan’s higher education towards inclusion and access, improved academic quality, and greater relevance and impact. She noted that organising a second advanced training within two months demonstrates the growing trust and forward momentum of academic cooperation through the CPEC University Consortium.
Deputy Secretary-General Gao Xiaojie of the China Association of Higher Education inaugurated the programme earlier and reiterated the friendship and partnership between the two countries. She underlined the Consortium’s role in collaborative research, capacity building and talent development in areas such as AI, international engineering, cultural modernization and regional studies.
Representative of the trainee cohort, Dr Abdul Samad of Loralai University, praised the practical insights gained into digital transformation in Chinese higher education and said participants would seek to apply these lessons to advance teaching, research and institutional partnerships in Pakistan. The training, organised under the CPEC University Consortium, aims to strengthen people-to-people ties while supporting higher education reforms that align with national development goals.
