On the occasion of its 5th anniversary, the Ghent University China Platform organized the China Forum. Since five years the China Platform has further developed the relationships between Ghent University and China, and has been promoting and facilitating institutional cooperation.

The China Platform is a cooperation between the University of Ghent, the Province of East Flanders, the city of Ghent and the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC). The China Platform aims to be an academic center for information exchange. One of its most important tasks is to actively establish more cooperation in education and research.

During the China Forum Mr Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade, explained   how to make the EU-China relationship work. Mr Liao Liqiang, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Belgium gave us a view on the further development of the China-Belgium relationship.

Rector Prof dr Paul Van Cauwenberge explained the internationalization strategy of the University of Ghent and Mr Marc De Buck, Vice Governor of the Province of East Flanders gave us a clear view of what the policy of East Flanders on China is.

The China Forum was ended by an interesting panel discussion moderated by Professor dr Martin Valcke of the Department of Educational Studies. The panel discussion was joined by Mr Liao Liqiang, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Belgium, Mr Bertrand de Crombrugghe, Ambassador and Director Asia and Oceania of the Belgium Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prof dr Bart Dessein of the Department of Languages and Cultures of South and East Asia, Mr Rene De Keyzer, Manager External R&D of Agfa Graphics and Founding Member of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and Mr Zhao Ningning, Researcher at the Department of Educational Studies.