On February 25, 2025, a delegation of more than 30 people from the Education Department of Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan, visited the Yangpu Campus of SUCC. The signing ceremony for inter-school cooperation was held. Ms. Yessenova Nurlyshat, Director of the Education Department of Karaganda Region, Consul Almakhanov Nurmukhanbet of the Consulate General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Shanghai, and representatives of presidents and teachers of 19 colleges and universities from Karaganda attended the meeting. SUCC attendees included President Zhang Zhengrong, leaders of the International Cooperation Division, the Academic Affairs Office, the Library & Information Center, the School of Digital Construction, the School of Municipal & Ecological Engineering, the School of Food & Tourism, and the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and relevant teachers. The meeting was presided over by Vice President Guo Hongtao.

At the meeting, President Zhang delivered a welcome speech to the guests from Kazakhstan. He said that Kazakhstan is the birthplace of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping. In recent years, the exchanges and cooperation between China and Kazakhstan in education have been continuously deepened and achieved fruitful results. He hoped that this exchange meeting could serve as a starting point for the colleges and universities in both countries to promote the design and planning of educational cooperation, thus making new progress in communication and educational cooperation between both teachers and students.

Ms. Yessenova Nurlyshat expressed her gratitude for SUCC's warm reception. She mentioned that Kazakhstan has been committed to cultivating urgently needed technical talents for the past few years, as a way to comprehensively improve the competitiveness of local vocational colleges. Therefore, she earnestly hoped that after the signing of cooperation agreements, SUCC and relevant colleges will carry out practical cooperation to promote the high-quality development of local vocational education and continuously enhance the friendship between China and Kazakhstan in cooperation and exchanges.

At the signing ceremony, President Zhang and the presidents of six institutions, including Higher Technical College of Kokshetau City, Zhezkazgan Industrial and Humanitarian College, Karaganda Mining and Industrial College, Temirtau Technical College, Karaganda Industrial and Technological College, and Shakhty Technological College, signed the cooperation agreements and presented gifts to each other. In the future, both sides will carry out international exchanges and cooperation in vocational education in terms of teaching and scientific research, teacher training, mutual visits between teachers and students, and joint cultivation of students.

At the exchange session, Gan Yingjun, Deputy Dean of the School of Digital Construction, shared how the School has worked hard on professional construction and talent training from the aspects of talent training and construction, scientific research and social services, vocational education going global, social impact and future development. Principal Tleuzhanova Mara of Zhezkazgan Industrial and Humanitarian College also gave an introduction to the current situation of cultivating technical talents in their school and expressed her expectation for the prospects of cooperation.

During the campus visit, the delegation had the opportunity to watch the skills demonstration of winners in Floristry at the 47th WorldSkills Competition and visit the preparation of contestants at the WorldSkills China National Training Base for Bricklaying, through which they fully understood the process of a school participating in and preparing for international skills competitions.

This activity was strongly supported by the Vocational Education Division of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the Consulate General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Shanghai. SUCC will take this opportunity to explore new paths and models for educational exchanges with Central Asian countries, so as to play a positive role in international education and exchanges under the Belt and Road Initiative.