After a 40-hour journey across three locations, the BLCU working group led by President Duan Peng finally arrived at the other end of this transoceanic collaboration—Peru—on a sunny, flower-blooming day in the Southern Hemisphere's early summer. On November 14 local time, the Third APEC Education Forum was successfully held in Lima, the capital of Peru. This forum served as an important side event to the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, with all participating economies' leaders' meeting handbooks featuring the forum co-hosted by Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) of China and Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola of Peru, underscoring its prominent position among the activities of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.
In his speech at this leaders' informal meeting, President Xi Jinping pointed out that "openness is a distinctive hallmark of Chinese modernization. China will persist in advancing reform through openness, proactively aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules, actively expanding independent opening-up, and promoting orderly expansion in sectors such as telecommunications, internet, education, culture, and healthcare." The Third APEC Education Forum, co-hosted by BLCU and Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, along with the jointly established Peru China Research Institute, represents a concrete implementation of Chinese modernization serving the building of an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. It embodies the university's values and pioneering spirit of "sharing epochal responsibilities and promoting Asia-Pacific development."
The theme of the Third APEC Education Forum is "Language Education and Talent Cultivation," with each agenda item aligned to APEC's development strategies. From "Designing and Strategizing Public Education Policies in a Global Educational Environment" to "APEC Global Citizenship Cultivation Models and Pathways to Employment Promotion," the forum is people-centered, focusing on the contributions of global education development to fostering global citizens under the APEC framework. From "Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Technology in Education and Teaching Practices" to "Cultural Heritage Protection and Mutual Learning Among Diverse Civilizations," the forum adopts a historical and forward-looking perspective, integrating the inheritance of human civilization with the future development of education brought by modern technological progress. As President Duan Peng stated in his keynote speech at the forum's opening ceremony, titled "Mutual Assistance in Education, Shared Prosperity in Culture: Jointly Building a Path to Prosperous Development in the Asia-Pacific," "The theme of this APEC Leaders' Summit fully reflects the beautiful vision of promoting economic cooperation, driving economic growth, and achieving common prosperity among member economies. With education, technology, and talent as the cornerstone, this forum focuses on digitalization and educational innovation, building bridges and platforms for educational digital cooperation and cultural exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region."
The forum was presided over by BLCU Vice President Zhang Baojun. Experts and scholars from various fields, including Advisor Maria Hanna Oscco Gaspar from the Bureau for Labor Promotion of Persons with Disabilities at Peru's Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion, Minister-Counselor and Deputy Chief of Mission Thapanee Kiatphaiboon at the Royal Thai Embassy in China, BLCU Professor Jinsong Zhang, Director Carlos Acuña from the Directorate of Educational Technological Innovation at Peru's Ministry of Education, Founder (BLCU alumnus) Huaiyu Zheng of Shenzhen Yinghuo Yidong Information Technology Co., Ltd., BLCU Professor Yingxia Su, Professor Angel Deroncele-Acosta from Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola in Peru, Academic Director Ludmila Kalasnikova from the University of Chile, Chief Expert Chen Lixia from the International Chinese Education Practice and Research Base (BLCU), Professor Yunok Kang from Myongji University in South Korea, and Professor Zaiyu Yao from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, shared views and insights on relevant topics. They contributed wisdom to constructing new concepts, models, and paths for Asia-Pacific educational cooperation, realizing a sustainable and high-quality future for Asia-Pacific education development.
Another landmark event at this forum was the establishment of the Peru China Research Institute. On the evening of November 14 local time, President Xi Jinping and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte jointly attended the opening ceremony of Qiankai Port via video at the Presidential Palace in Lima. The port's opening signifies the connection of a new maritime route linking both sides of the Pacific, heralding the launch of comprehensive cooperation between China and Peru, as well as Latin American countries, and becoming a prosperous path for joint development between China-Peru and China-Latin America. Accompanying comprehensive cooperation is the demand for cultivating comprehensive interdisciplinary talent. As an international university specializing in Chinese talent cultivation, BLCU's establishment of the Peru China Research Institute locally opens new paths for deepening China-Peru and China-Latin America cooperation through Chinese as a bridge, setting a new paradigm for multilateralism and global governance in educational innovation practices under the APEC framework.
At the forum's opening ceremony, President Duan Peng and former Peruvian Vice President and founder of Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola Raúl Diez Canseco Terry jointly signed the Framework Agreement on the Cooperation between Beijing Language and Culture University of the People's Republic of China and Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola of the Republic of Peru for Establishing the Peru China Research Institute. Together with Peruvian Congress President Eduardo Salhuana and Executive Director Luciana de la Fuente of Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, they unveiled the plaque for the Peru China Research Institute, witnessed by dignitaries, officials, ambassadors, university presidents, and experts and scholars from 11 economies. After the ceremony, President Duan Peng delivered a speech in front of the office building specially allocated by Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola for the Peru China Research Institute. He stated that the Peru China Research Institute will serve as a bridge for China-Peru cooperation, exchanges, and mutual learning among civilizations. BLCU will collaborate with Peru to pool resources from multiple parties and build the institute into a globally influential think tank and educational platform.
Subsequently, in exclusive interviews with Peru's national news agency Andina and other media, President Duan Peng further elaborated: Under the global development initiative proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping and the context of South-South cooperation, the establishment of the Peru China Research Institute is an important measure for both countries to respond to the needs of the times and deepen cooperation. The institute's setup expands strategic space under the Global South cooperation framework, deepening cultural and think tank connections in bilateral relations. As an extension platform for the Belt and Road Initiative, the institute will provide systematic intellectual support for China-Latin America cooperation through policy report releases, high-level forums, and international conferences, continuously driving mutual learning and common progress in the modernization process for China and Latin America.
The Peru China Research Institute is BLCU's first comprehensive overseas institution integrating think tank, teaching, and research functions. The institute will not only provide intellectual support for key areas such as politics, economy, and education between the two countries but also serve as an important window for Peru and the entire Latin American region to deeply understand China's path, solutions, and wisdom, exploring Chinese-style modernization and providing key references for Latin American countries in developing new quality productive forces. In talent cultivation philosophy, through "Chinese + Vocational" and "Chinese + Professional" interdisciplinary training, it creates a new model for disseminating China through Chinese, enabling learners to recognize, understand, and comprehend China in cultivating Chinese and related professional abilities. In cultivation modes, based on Chinese learning, it integrates broader industry fields and professional resources, conducting joint degree cultivation, minor degrees, and other talent development through inter-university cooperation; providing internationally standardized industry certificate courses and examinations, offering learners integrated industry-education resources. In teaching methods, leveraging the international Chinese smart education system, it conducts online remote education with the aid of a global Chinese education large model; enhancing local learners' experience and efficiency through holographic virtual Chinese education environments. In cultural exchanges, it strengthens learners' global vision and cross-cultural communication abilities through courses and activities, helping learners understand commonalities and differences among cultures; promoting China-Latin America cultural exchanges through traditional Chinese cultural activities, enabling students to deeply comprehend the cultural connotations behind Chinese. In language education, it strengthens integrated education of Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese to create conditions for cultivating multilingual talent.
During his participation in the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting and the 19th G20 Leaders' Summit, President Xi Jinping attended nearly 40 bilateral and multilateral activities, reaching over 60 cooperation documents. He met with old friends and made new ones, conducted strategic communications, deepened practical cooperation, promoted healthy and stable development of major-country relations, and led unity and self-strengthening in the Global South. This expanded new space for China's high-quality development and high-level opening-up, enriched new practices in building a community of shared future for mankind, and opened a new realm for Chinese diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era. In his speech at the first session of the 19th G20 Leaders' Summit, he pointed out, "We are all committed to the same goal, namely building a just world of common development. To build such a world, we need to increase resource inputs in trade investment and development cooperation, strengthen development institutions, build more cooperation bridges, and fewer 'small yards with high fences,' so that more and more developing countries can live better lives and achieve modernization."
To align with national development needs and contribute to building a community of shared future for mankind, BLCU's working group led by President Duan Peng, in just three days, signed important cooperation framework agreements, established the Peru China Research Institute, accepted local media interviews, and successfully hosted the Third APEC Education Forum. Actively developing and bridging collaborations, it showcased the open, cooperative, practical, and innovative image of Chinese universities on the international stage, yielding abundant results. As an international university specializing in Chinese education, BLCU uses Chinese as a bridge to meet the demand for Chinese talent cultivation in comprehensive China-foreign exchanges, fulfilling its natural responsibility and mission. The successful hosting of the Third APEC Education Forum integrates language research, protection, promotion, and talent cultivation, elevating from language education to mutual learning among civilizations and global development. From the education field, it contributes wisdom and strength to building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future and even a community of shared future for mankind. The establishment of the Peru China Research Institute is a concrete practice of Chinese modernization promoting world modernization processes and an important outcome form of China's educational internationalization development, exploring a brand-new model for disseminating China through Chinese. The university will take this as a starting point, relying on the International Chinese Education Practice and Research Base to deeply promote bilateral academic, talent cultivation, and cultural exchanges, providing more intellectual support and cultural links for the China-Latin America region, helping regional cooperation reach higher levels, and contributing new strength to building a community of shared future for mankind.
Editor: Chen Siyu, Tao Xiaolei
