Guangxi college works towards EU-China rail transit talent cultivation

The EU-China Rail Transit Talent Cultivation Base was unveiled in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on March 29.

Held both online and on-site, the ceremony also attracted the attendance of railway experts from Spain and Germany, who joined in proceedings via video link. 

The base, jointly built by Liuzhou Railway Vocational Technical College and FERRMED, aims to establish a platform for rail transport-focused vocational education cooperation between China and Europe, and to cultivate versatile talents in the sector.

It will form a new model of international vocational education cooperation, conducting various forms of cooperation and communication in areas spanning international curricula development, teaching faculty ability improvement, global talent training and academic exchanges. 

FERRMED is a non-profit association founded in Brussels in August 2004 to improve rail freight transportation and industrial competitiveness in Europe.

Joan Amoros, president of FERRMED, said that railway transport has been playing a more and more important role in trade between China and Europe, and FERRMED is now working on pressing issues such as increasing the transport efficiency of Eurasian rails and cutting down logistics costs.

Amoros expressed a hope that student exchanges, academic seminars and lectures can be held to help cultivate more talents. 

Huang Feng, president of Liuzhou Railway Vocational Technical College, said that Guangxi has resumed the regular operation of China-Europe freight trains, and the demand for versatile talents with knowledge of areas such as rail transport and foreign trade is huge.

Huang added that the college, being the only higher vocational college in Guangxi for rail transport, is looking forward to upgrading the quality of its talent cultivation, and boosting the internationalization level of its vocational education through cooperation with FERRMED.

Since 2016, Liuzhou Railway Vocational Technical College has carried out cooperation with 24 colleges and institutes from countries and regions alongside the Belt and Road such as Thailand, Laos, Indonesia and Russia.