On October 22, a delegation of 7 education representatives, led by Carl Decaluwe, Governor of West Flanders in Belgium, visited Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (ZCMU). Huang Wenxiu, Secretary of the Party Committee of ZCMU, and Wu Chengliang, Vice President of ZCMU, warmly greeted the delegation, and they engaged in a friendly meeting to deepen the mutual cooperation in the fields of education, medical care, etc. The department heads of the International Relations Office, International Education College, and the School of Life Sciences of ZCMU also attended this meeting.

In the welcome speech, Huang Wenxiu extended a warm welcome to the arrival of Carl Decaluwe and Frederik D’Hulster, president of Howest University of Applied Sciences (HOWEST). Huang Wenxiu briefly introduced the basic profile of ZCMU and reviewed the history of exchanges with HOWEST since their cooperative relationship was established in 2015. He also expects the two sides to dig out more potentials for mutual cooperation, especially to cultivate more top talents in the fields of medical care and public health, who are creative and innovative with international perspective.

Carl Decaluwe highlighted the long-established partnerships between West Flanders and Zhejiang Province in his speech, and expressed his willingness to make further cooperation in the field of health care. He also said that this visit was not only to support the development of deeper cooperative partnerships of ZCMU with HOWEST but also to take this opportunity to expand more extensive cooperation between Zhejiang province and West Flanders in health.

Frederik D’Hulster conveyed his expectation to the level of mutual cooperation in the meeting, and stressed that traditional Chinese medicine enjoys unique advantages and marked characteristics in terms of promoting health and preventing diseases, and the HOWEST has strong expertise in the field of digital solutions. He expressed his expectations for interdisciplinary cooperation between the two universities in areas such as applied health sciences.

During the meeting, the two sides also discussed in depth the co-construction and sharing of curriculums, research collaboration, medical collaboration and other aspects in the future. Carl Decaluwe and Huang Wenxiu witnessed the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the two universities.

The visit of the delegation led by Carl Decaluwe injected new energy into the international exchanges and cooperation between ZCMU and West Flanders, laying a solid foundation for the in-depth cooperation between the two sides. At the same time, it also provided new opportunities for the international dissemination of traditional Chinese medicine through the integration of traditional Chinese medicine and modern science and technology.

During their visit to ZCMU, the delegation also toured the Zhejiang Chinese Medicine Museum and Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and visited the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University.