Several education scholars and experts had an in-depth discussion at a forum held in Qianhai today and shared their views on methods to cultivate interdisciplinary talents that can meet the country’s current and future needs to participate in various global competitions.

The forum, jointly organized by the College of International Studies of Shenzhen University and the GEC Academy, an education service provider, consisted of several opening speeches, six keynote speeches and three panel discussions.

Li Qingquan, Party chief of Shenzhen University, said in his speech that building an international interdisciplinary talent hub in Shenzhen and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is the city’s focal point to adapt to the needs of national development, contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for humankind and give full play to Shenzhen’s international regional advantages.

Cultivating international interdisciplinary talents has become an important task for Shenzhen University’s targets of realizing international development and building itself into a world-class innovation-driven university. The university’s College of International Studies has taken the country’s lead in opening several disciplines’ literacy and general knowledge courses for foreign language majors to cultivate their interdisciplinary learning capabilities.

Xue Yuxue, former director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Afghanistan and Indonesia, said during his work at UNDP, he not only witnessed China’s increasingly important role in and extensive influence on international affairs, but also realized its under-representation and weak right of speech in international organizations. Therefore, more international talents who are proficient in international rules and familiar with international affairs are needed.

“Talents with international competence should have four basic qualities: excellent professional knowledge and skills, competent professional ability, working ability in a multicultural environment, as well as international vision and patriotism,” Xue said.

Shen Cong, CEO of GEC Academy, said that the institute strives to create more value for customers, parents and students that requires understanding the trends and laws of talent training and development. “To this end, we have carefully studied relevant education policies and made exchanges with education authorities,” he said.