On the afternoon of June 6, a delegation led by Zhou Kechao, Vice President of CSU, visited the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal on behalf of the university, based on the consensus reached in March 2017 by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nepali Prime Minister Prachanda on jointly building the Belt and Road (also called B&R, short for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road), enriching the connotation of people-to-people exchanges and deepening cultural and youth exchanges. Mr. Paudyal, Ambassador of Nepal to the People’s Republic of China, attended the signing ceremony and signed the MoU as the authorized representative of Nepal.

The MoU is expected to encourage China-Nepal cooperation and exchanges in mutually beneficial academic sectors, deepen friendship and strengthen bilateral educational exchanges. According to the MoU, the Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal will recommend excellent employees to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal regularly every year as  candidates for CSU's Scholarship for Master Program in Advanced Nursing Practice and Medical Technology in Developing Countries. Both sides will also jointly apply for the Silk Road Scholarship Program (a Chinese government scholarship) for the clinical medicine sector and specially cultivate talents with bachelor's, master's and doctor’s degrees for Nepal.

After the signing ceremony, the two sides exchanged views on implementation of the MoU and make in-depth communication on the cultivation mode of clinical medicine undergraduates, clinical practice and medical residency training. Mr. Paudyal also hoped CSU could cultivate talents for Nepal engaged in China-Nepal railway construction projects and thus boost B&R construction in a real sense.

It is reported that the Silk Road Scholarship Program is designed to specially cultivate management and technical talents in all professions and trades for B&R countries, as a response to proposals related to Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and the requirements for the Silk Road Overseas Study Program given in Educational Actions on Jointly Building Belt and Road. Since 2017, on the basis of existing scholarships, China has been at least providing scholarships for 3,000 additional students in B&R countries every year.

Source: Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges