China expertise in Germany: opportunities and challenges

Prof. Dr. Hou, Head of the China Competence Center, took part in two workshops on 21.09 and 24.09.2020, which were organized by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research).

The aim of the virtual status workshop on 21.09.2020 was to present the eleven China competence projects in relation to the topic of "China competence in Germany", with a concluding discussion round on opportunities and challenges. In addition to TU Clausthal, other universities also presented their programs. These included: University of Hohenheim (Chikoh project), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Culture China project), University of Tübingen (ChInfoTueb project), Konstanz University of Applied Sciences (QZCHK project), Tu Berlin (TUWITECH project), Dortmund University of Applied Sciences (Dokochi project), University of Marburg (MBM project), Kiel University of Applied Sciences (CPS CDHAW project), Ismaning University of Applied Sciences (CHINATIV project) and Paderborn University (Tick project).

On 24.09.2020, the second virtual workshop focused on the exchange of experience/knowledge and reflection on "Challenges and opportunities in cooperation with China". In the course of the first thematic block, the aforementioned institutes were asked to describe their own experiences regarding cooperation with Chinese partner universities. The effects of current changes in the research and education policy context on the institutes' cooperation with China were part of the second thematic block.

In the past, Clausthal University of Technology has enjoyed successful cooperation between China and Germany, including the promotion of young talent, bilateral summer schools, exchange programs, large-scale energy research projects, German-Chinese music festivals and energy conferences. The China Competence Center has been able to overcome a number of challenges, such as a lack of interest among students or dealing with stereotypes and prejudices towards China. This is reflected in the higher number of participants from both Germany and China. In 2019, there was a huge increase in the number of participants in the exchange programs. The China Strategy 2030 was launched to ensure that such exchange and knowledge programs and cooperation between Germany and China continue to be important in the future. So that equal, structured and open cooperation with China can continue to be sustainable in the future. Despite the pandemic, cooperation between German and Chinese partner universities offers a wide range of opportunities. In the future, more public relations work, the establishment of joint degree programs with or without double degrees, an increased exchange between China and Germany as well as the implementation of web seminars and online events, especially during the corona crisis, are planned.