In late August 2024, Sophia University delegation led by Vice President for Global Academic Affairs Tetsuo Morishita visited Beijing, China to attend the CEOs Meeting of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in Asia Pacific (AJCU-AP), a consortium of Jesuit institutions of higher education in Asia. The delegation also took the opportunity to pay courtesy calls on Sophia University’s overseas partner institutions in Beijing.
The AJCU-AP CEOs Meeting brings together the heads of institutions in the Asia Pacific region that share the Jesuit spirit of education and was hosted by The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies.
The participants actively discussed the development of educational programs that maximize the unique characteristics of the consortium and exchanged opinions on current issues surrounding universities, such as AI and mental health.
These discussions are expected to strengthen efforts of AJCU-AP while deepening cooperation among its members.
After the CEOs Meeting, courtesy visits were paid to seven partner institutions in Beijing: China Foreign Affairs University, China Education Association for International Exchange, Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Renmin University of China, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing University, and Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Vice President Morishita expressed Sophia University’s appreciation to each organization for the support towards the various exchange such as student mobility that are currently underway and confirmed that cooperation for further development of the Japan-China youth-generation relations and academic exchange will be continued without interruption.
This was the first visit to China by Sophia’s top management since the pandemic, and the delegation was received with warm welcome at each institution, which became an opportunity to realize once again the expectations for friendship and mutual understanding in international exchange with China.