NEWS
A vivid mixture of English, Swedish and Chinese filled restaurant Hjortron on Campus Umeå on Monday when the Alumni Office held a Chinese Afternoon. All Chinese speaking students and staff were invited to mingle and learn more about Umeå University’s and Umeå Municipality’s cooperation with China.
China is one of the prioritized countries for Umeå University’s internationalisation process. The Chinese afternoon, the first gathering of this kind, was organised to strengthen the relationship with everyone who works, has worked, studies or has studied in Umeå, and has close ties to China or other Chinese speaking countries.
“The most important part in supporting the connection between China and Umeå are of course our students, researchers and teachers here in Umeå, and our alumni, scientists and friends in China,” says Anders Fällström, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for education, who welcomed everyone to the event. “Umeå University has been active in China, with research and student exchange, for around 30-40 years. China is not only one of the most popular regions for our outgoing students, it is also one of the biggest incoming communities, and we have a lot of research cooperation.“
The first international alumni networks were established in China last year. During the afternoon, Alumni Coordinator Jessica Bergström Grahn presented the Alumni Chapters in Shanghai and Beijing, including video messages from the chapter leaders Cici and Yi Yuan. “We want our alumni network in China to grow, and this is a perfect way for more Chinese staff and students to learn about it,” says Yi Yuan, a former student of tourism in Umeå and chapter leader of the Umeå University Alumni China network in Beijing.
The presentations were concluded by Tomas Li, China Coordinator at Umeå municipality, who presented Umeå’s cooperation with its three sister cities in China, and Linus Jansson from Umeå municipality who talked about the upcoming Capital of Culture year, as well as leading companies in the Umeå region and job opportunities.
Later, everyone was invited to some traditional Swedish “smörgåstårta” (sandwich cake), to mingle and to meet each other. Around 50 students and staff attended the event. “We are glad that so many could join,” says Jessica Bergström Grahn. “The Chinese afternoon is our way to say thank you to all Chinese speaking staff and students who have chosen Umeå University as their place of work or study.”
