Preparing for China

In 2018, The UWI will prepare for the departure of its first set of students for Suzhou, China as part of the BSc Software Engineering programme. Strategic partner, the Global Institute of Software Technology (GIST) based in Suzhou, will receive the students for the completion of their third and fourth years of the joint BSc programme.

Since 2015, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles has been pioneering a strategy to establish a UWI Centre in China that will produce a generation of software engineers for the Caribbean, in order to lay the foundation for the much needed digital revolution in the region.

President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, agreed with CARICOM to facilitate industrial technology transfer to the region during his visit to the Caribbean in 2015. It is noted that The UWI, with the support of the Government of Jamaica, has been implementing this vision.

In December 2016, Ambassador Niu Qingbao, of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Jamaica, affirmed The UWI's status as an approved university by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. This landmark development signalled the acceptance of UWI degrees by China's highest education authorities; an acknowledgement of the regional institution's high quality; comparable to the standards met by other internationally renowned universities, which have sought to establish themselves in China.

It paves "a silk road for education", fostering deeper collaboration between the Caribbean and China; as both Caribbean students and Chinese students studying at any of The UWI's campuses now have the assurance that their degrees will be accepted by future Chinese employers.

As The UWI continues its expansion in China, in 2018, it will advance plans to establish a UWI-China Campus in Jiangsu.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles (3rd left, seated) and Minister of Education, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (4th right, seated) and other officials of The UWI at a meeting with Software Engineering Students at the Mona campus students. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the terms and conditions of the students' departure for Suzhou, China later this year as part of the BSc Software Engineering programme. Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles (3rd left, seated) and Minister of Education, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (4th right, seated) and other officials of The UWI at a meeting with Software Engineering Students at the Mona campus students. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the terms and conditions of the students' departure for Suzhou, China later this year as part of the BSc Software Engineering programme.