It was celebration time for 127 Chinese students in March, when the University of Sussex held its first ever graduation ceremony in China.
The university offered all alumni from China and surrounding countries the opportunity to attend the special graduation in Beijing, surrounded by their family and friends. Many senior members of the university, including the vice-chancellor, travelled from the UK to take part in the ceremony.
The graduation in Beijing was also an opportunity to mark Sussex’s strong collaborations with some of the leading universities in China.
Professor Chen Yulu, president of Renmin University, one of Sussex’s partner institutions in China, received an honorary doctorate at the ceremony.
As Sussex’s links with Chinese universities grow, so too do the number of Sussex students and alumni from China. Around 1,300 Chinese students – including 850 from Hong Kong – are currently enrolled at Sussex, and the university now has a total of 3,200 Chinese alumni.
Professor Michael Farthing, Sussex’s vice-chancellor, said: “Our partnerships and work with Renmin, Beijing Normal, Nanjing, Peking and Tsinghua universities have meant that we have been able to offer our students and faculty numerous research and learning opportunities. In turn, these universities have benefitted from the work we are doing in the UK.”
One of Sussex’s most well-known Chinese alumni is Zhang Xin, who appeared in a video during the ceremony. She achieved a degree in economics at Sussex and a master’s at Cambridge, then worked on Wall Street before returning to China. Her company, SOHO China Ltd, has undertaken a series of award-winning building projects that have made her one of China’s most successful property developers.
Other notable Chinese alumni have taken the spirit of Sussex with them into their chosen professions, including: Liu Huimin, CEO of China Life Asset Management; Boqing Zhang, CEO of Scien-kebo Biotechnology China; and Gongbo Chen, CEO of Ningbo Chengwei Trading.
Sussex offers 300 internships in China
A new scheme offering up to 300 University of Sussex students work experience in some of the top companies and industries in major cities in China is being launched this year. The £750,000 Sussex China Internship Scheme is open to undergraduates and postgraduates.
Professor Michael Farthing, the vice-chancellor, said: “This will be a marvellous opportunity for our students to get a real taste of working in China, one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic economies in the world. We are also creating more opportunities for our Chinese students to find work placements in the UK.
“Sussex is already ranked fourth highest university in the UK for employability, and this scheme demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the brightest futures for our graduates.”
Sussex is the first UK university to be working on this scale with the British Council’s Generation UK internship programme, an initiative supported by both the Chinese and UK governments to encourage greater education and employment links between the two nations.
Find out more about the University of Sussex’s international links
