On December 11, a delegation led by Silvia Caro, Vice President of Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, visited Nankai University (NKU). Fang Yongchun, Vice President of NKU, met with the guests on Balitai Campus.

Fang Yongchun extended a warm welcome to Vice President Caro and her delegation. He introduced NKU’s distinctive educational characteristics, research strengths, and international engagement. He highlighted the substantial collaborative foundation the two universities have built over nearly two decades, particularly in jointly establishing the Confucius Institute, facilitating faculty and student exchanges, and conducting joint research. Fang pointed out that since the co-founding of the Confucius Institute in 2007, the two institutions have consistently advanced practical cooperation, broadened exchanges between their leading disciplines, and made the potential for collaboration increasingly evident. Looking ahead, he expressed hope that both sides would seek to develop high-level, multi-tiered cooperative mechanisms in areas of shared academic focus. He believed that enhanced collaboration between the two sides would serve as a catalyst to deepen and solidify cultural and intellectual exchange between China and Colombia, as well as with Latin America at large.

Vice President Caro expressed her gratitude for the warm reception from NKU. She spoke highly of the profound partnership between the two institutions and the growing influence of their joint Confucius Institute in the local community. She particularly commended the fruitful outcomes of the faculty and student exchange programs and the substantive academic exchange channels they have jointly built for young scholars from both sides. Looking to the future, she expressed hope that both institutions would build on the existing cooperation to further promote the transformation and upgrading of their multicultural exchange platform and explore the potential and value of collaboration across multiple fields, including education, research, talent cultivation, and university-enterprise collaboration.

On the same day, the delegation also participated in discussions and exchanges at the College of Chemistry, School of Physics, and College of Environmental Science and Engineering. Participants explored specific directions and implementation pathways for future cooperation in areas like joint research, collaborative student training, and scholar exchanges.

（Edited and translated by Nankai News Team.)