More and more students from China and Britain are enjoying the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from each other at home and abroad. China’s top fashion design institute even has acquired some UK panache through increased cooperation with some major British schools.
This is China’s top design school -- the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. Fashion can be felt everywhere on this campus and British style in particular is growing thanks to increased cooperation with a number of UK universities that allows more students to join exchange programs or head for studies in Great Britain. The institute’s major British partners include the University of the Arts London, the University of Southampton, and the University of Leeds.
Senior student Wang Yuqi participated in a ‘Connect Project’ held by Manchester Metropolitan University and spent 20 days hanging with some British students.
"When I was in Britain, I felt the British students often have strong personalities while Chinese students appear more modest. People often say Chinese students lack innovative ideas. But I believe Chinese students have big potential for fashion design. We definitely have a lot to learn from the British students but we have our own advantage – more effort and patience," Wang Yuqi, senior student of School of Clothing Art & Engineering, BIFT, said.
Many of the professors at the Beijing institute also have participated in the exchange programs with their students and see the benefits that their students have harvested from the exchanges.
"The fashion design industry in the UK has a profound influence in the world. The creativity of our students has been recognized by experts from the British universities. And I see our students have learned a lot and become more open-minded," Professor Zou You, dean of Clothing Art & Engineering, BIFT, said.
"I see our students are becoming more adaptable to the international platform - not only that their English has been improved, they’ve also learned more about the international concepts of fashion design and achieved a higher level of arts taste," Associate professor Du Bingbing, Clothing Art & Engineering, BIFT, said.
The Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology is among many Chinese universities that have expanded their cooperation with British universities. China now has the world's largest contingent of students studying in the UK. China’s Education Department says that more than 150,000 students were attending UK schools by 2014. The UK has also been making efforts to encourage more Brits to study in China and sent more than 6,000 students there in 2014.
China's Education Department says China and the UK are creating bright prospects for cooperation in the education sector. China will make continue to make additional efforts to deepen cooperation with the UK and promote better understanding between young people from both countries.