On 18 September, a four-member delegation led by Colin Fitzpatrick, Vice President of the University of Limerick, visited China. ZHAO Yuxin, Vice President of Harbin Engineering University (HEU), met with the guests in Beijing.

On behalf of the university, ZHAO Yuxin welcomed the delegation and briefed them on HEU’s history, educational characteristics, disciplinary strengths, talent training and international cooperation. He pointed out that the university has always adhered to open education, actively expanded cooperation with world-class universities and continuously improved internationalisation standards. The successful visit of the Irish Prime Minister to China in January this year has brought new opportunities for educational cooperation between the two countries. He expressed the hope that both sides would take this visit as an opportunity to seize momentum, leverage respective strengths, strengthen alignment, jointly explore new paths for high-level Sino-foreign cooperative education, promote practical cooperation in talent training, faculty-student exchanges and research collaboration, and cultivate more high-quality talents with global vision.

Colin Fitzpatrick spoke highly of HEU’s educational achievements and introduced the University of Limerick’s development and internationalisation strategy. He stated that expanding transnational education cooperation is a strategic priority for the university, and that the institution is fully confident in deepening bilateral ties. It is ready to give full play to its disciplinary advantages to carry out more practical cooperation and achieve mutual benefit.

The University of Limerick is one of Ireland’s seven national universities, founded in 1972. It ranks 388th globally and 5th among Irish universities in the 2027 QS World University Rankings, and 72nd globally in the 2024 Times Higher Education Young University Rankings, with a graduate employment rate of 96%.