In order to implement “Opinions by eight government bodies including the Ministry of Education on accelerating and expanding the opening-up of education in the new era”, and further promote the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Peak Plan for High-level Universities, NUA held the working meeting on international development on March 10 on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of its founding. Bao Guangliang, Level 2 Inspector at the Foreign Affairs Office of Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, attended the meeting along with NUA’s leaders and middle-level cadres, representatives of faculty members and secretaries of foreign affairs. The meeting reviewed NUA’s international development achievements during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, and further established the international development model of strengthening vertical communication and promoting coordinated development. The meeting, chaired by Li Xiangmin, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of NUA, started with enthusiastic song and dance performance “Dreamers in China” by international students.

Party Secretary of NUA Yu Feng pointed out that accelerating and expanding the opening-up of education in the new era is the development need of education, nation and new era. The university should hold high the banner of win-win cooperation and devote itself to deepening and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation and exchanges and mutual learning in higher art education with other countries, especially developed ones and those of the Belt and Road Initiative. In this way, NUA can make contributions to improving China's cultural soft power and building a community with a shared future for mankind. He noted that NUA should take the leading force, catch up with other high-level universities against standards, balance internal and external development, and improve educational quality and efficiency so as to accelerate the internationalization process. First, NUA should adhere to absorption and adaption that is to centered on domestic circumstances, learn from international advanced educational concepts and experiences, introduce high-quality educational resources, and enhance educational and innovative capabilities. Second, the university should insist on channel expansion, balanced development, and coordination between inbound and outbound programs. Third, NUA should persist in communication and exchanges with cultural and artistic circles of western developed countries and those along the Belt and Road Route. It should build a cultural identity system, enhance China's cultural influence on countries along the Belt and Road Route, spread excellent Chinese culture, and strengthen general understanding and recognition of Chinese culture and art around the world.

Zhang Linghao, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of NUA, gave an in-depth analysis on how to address challenges, seize opportunities, accelerate development, and open up high-level education to the outside world in the face of profound changes unseen in a century. First, we must adhere to the new concept of all-round integration of international development throughout. We should not only learn from international advanced educational ideas and management experience to form a dynamic, efficient and more open management system, but also stick to the concept of international development in various fields such as talent cultivation, scientific research, discipline development and artistic creation. Second, we must adapt to new requirements of training talent at home and attracting talent from abroad. We should cultivate first-class international artistic talent, introduce overseas outstanding talent and distinguished professors through multiple channels and approaches, strengthen the growth of an international talent team, and improve the international level of faculty management team. Third, we must build a  comprehensive improvement highland of international scientific research and artistic creation. We should improve participation of students and faculty members in international scientific research projects and academic activities through institution and mechanism reform, enhance international presence of discipline construction, strive to build a batch of international academic platforms and joint laboratories with global influence and world-class achievements according to disciplinary characteristics, so as to create a new highland for international scientific research cooperation.

Li Xiangmin, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of NUA, presented the Report on the International Development of Nanjing University of the Arts. He systematically summarized its achievements in international development during the 13th Five-Year Plan period in seven aspects - top-level design and institution construction, introducing foreign premium educational resources, attracting excellent overseas talent, enriching academic exchange forms, promoting creative and exhibition exchanges, strengthening cultural and educational exchanges with countries along the Belt and Road Routes, and building the Study in NUA brand - and analyzed problems encountered in the current international development. Based on the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Peak Plan for High-level Universities, he put forward the goals and measures for the international development of NUA in five terms: talent cultivation, teaching staff, scientific research, international communication, and campus construction.

Later, Dean of the School of Design Jiang Jie, Vice Dean of the School of Media Arts and Communication Xue Feng, and Dean of the School of International Education Xi Xie made speeches to share their experience in international development. Based on school advantages and discipline characteristics, they talked about achievements of international student exchange programs, establishment of brand courses and workshops, results of scientific research and art exhibitions, and cultural and educational exchanges between faculty and students.

Bao Guangliang and Yu Feng announced the inauguration of the ASEAN-Jiangsu Cultural & Educational Exchanges and Talent Training Base, one notable achievement of the ASEAN-Jiangsu Exchanges Week. NUA will cooperate with a batch of well-known overseas universities and institutions in film and television production, cultural industry, and international communication related to the Belt and Road Initiative. Representatives from overseas universities such as the Maharishi University of Management in the U.S. and Ain Shams University in Egypt, and head of the International Short Film Festival Berlin in Germany sent videos to express their sincere congratulations to NUA for holding the working meeting on international development and their hopes to carry out higher-level and multi-dimensional cultural and educational exchanges with NUA.

In order to give full play to role models and inspire foreign affairs staff, international students and teachers to make rapid progress and strive for excellence, the meeting also honored 6 advanced units such as the School of Fine Arts, 16 advanced individuals in management positions including Li Rongguo, 12 advanced faculty members including Yao Hong, and 4 advanced foreign experts s including Shew Julian Zhilian. Leaders of NUA Yu Feng, Zhang Linghao, Li Xiangmin, Zhan Heping and Chen Yongmei awarded them the certificates and medals.

On the same day, the university published the “Notice on Issuing the Action Plan of Nanjing University of the Arts for Promoting International Development”, carefully creating the blueprint for promoting high-quality international cooperation and exchanges in implementing the Peak Plan for High-level University Development.

Hope comes from collective dedication and advance from good preparation. Under the strong leadership of the Party committee and administration and with joint efforts of all departments and secondary colleges of the university, international development will surely become a booster and growth point for NUA’s high-quality development. The past 110 years shows that NUA has carried on predecessors' task and achieved a greater success of it. The university is making contributions to CPC’s 20th National Congress of CPC and NUA’s 110th anniversary with outstanding results, striding forward to the Second Centenary Goal. (President's Office, International Exchange Office, and School of International Education)