Massey University and Peking University staff gather at the Auckland campus. Top row, from left: Professor Zhao Baisheng, Professor John O’Neil, Professor Liu Shusen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Operations Stuart Morriss, Professor Wu Xiaoan, Dr Ma Naiqiang, Dr Peter Meihana. Bottom row: Associate Professor Bi Minghui, Dr Jack Ross, Professor Peter Lineham, Associate Professor Liu Hongzhong, Professor Jenny Lawn, Dr Sally Liu, Dr Michael Li.
Representatives from Peking University’s New Zealand Centre were hosted at Massey’s Auckland campus last week.
The campus visit was the last stop for the group of five representatives from the Chinese university. They had spent the week touring New Zealand universities and, for three of them, was the first time they had visited Massey University.
The delegation was led by New Zealand Centre director and Professor of English Liu Shusen, with the visit providing the opportunity to catch up with Massey University “colleagues”. While the visit was his first to the University’s Auckland campus, he has visited the Manawatū campus on several previous occasions.
Staff from the Peking University's New Zealand Centre with Minister Chris Hipkins (centre) and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Operations Stuart Morriss.
For Deputy Vice-Chancellor Operations Stuart Morriss, the visit provided an opportunity to reciprocate hosting duties, following a visit to the New Zealand Centre in July along with Minister of Education Chris Hipkins, New Zealand's ambassador to China and Mongolia Clare Fearnley, Education New Zealand chief executive office Grant McPherson, as well as other officials from the Ministry of Education and Education New Zealand.
Mr Morriss made the trip to the centre following his appointment to the role of chair to the New Zealand Centre Advisory Board in January.
“This was an important opportunity to reinforce the value of the New Zealand Centre for New Zealand universities and the relationship that exists between the universities and the Peking University, one of Chinas top universities,” Mr Morriss said.
Both reciprocal visits have provided Massey University with the opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to joint initiatives, including the visiting fellowship programme that has enabled research collaboration.
The New Zealand Centre has supported 27 visiting fellows from New Zealand universities during the past three years, creating ongoing relationships and opptorunities for future collaborations.
The School of Humanities is currently delivering the centre’s annual undergraduate New Zealand history and culture course, led by Dr Peter Meihana, which will continue for the next two years.
Massey’s relationship with Peking University is more than a decade old, based on the establishment of the ground-breaking “Three Brothers” tripartite partnership model between Massey, Peking University and Xinjiang’s Shihezi University, in 2005. The success of the “Three Brothers” model led the Chinese Government to replicate it nine times between Chinese and New Zealand universities, as well as exporting the model for partnership to Australian, Scandinavian, Canadian and United States universities.