Peking University, May 9, 2011: Taiwan University (NTU), as a top higher education institute in Taiwan, has taken a further step in developing its relationship with Peking University (PKU) by starting cooperation in academic exchanges between the two schools, NTU President Lee Si-chen said on Monday.

Lee made the remarks on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of an exhibition featuring the development of cooperation between NTU and the prestigious university in Beijing.

The exhibition, which will run until May 29 at NTU's main library, showcases old documents and pictures, as well as several valuable old book collections.

The presidents of the two universities signed three academic exchange memorandums of understanding on administrative procedures for inviting guest and adjunct professors, holding seminars on environmental issues, and increasing the number of exchange students from two to 10 per year.

"In the past, exchanges were limited to individuals, mainly professors," said Lee. "But now the system has developed into a top-down pattern that can solve many difficulties."

PKU President Zhou Qifeng said for his part that "both schools have many similarities. We share the same educational philosophy, and we both strive to be world-class universities. There are many things we can do together to help each other."

Chinese Mainland, as Zhou pointed out, is facing problems while going through the process of urbanization, and Taiwan can share its past experience in this regard. “At the same time, students from both sides of the straits can experience the different ambiences and cultures of the two universities, broadening their horizons,” he went on, adding that there are currently about 300 Taiwanese students studying at PKU.

"Each university has its own features and specialties, and mutual cooperation can help students learn from these different aspects," said Zhou.

Background Info:

Taiwan University is a prestigious co-educational university located in Taipei. Its main campus is set upon 1,086,167 square meters in Taipei's Da'an District. In addition, the university has six other campuses in Taiwan, occupying a total of 345,830,000 square meters. Currently the university consists of 11 colleges, 54 departments, 96 graduate institutes and four research centers and offers diplomas in over 100 fields of study.

NTU is the top-ranked university in Taiwan and placed among the best 95 universities in the world by several well-reputed rankings (HEEACT, THE-QS World University Rankings 2009, Global University Ranking 2009, Webometrics Ranking of World Universities). In 2010, it was ranked 94th in the world by QS World University Rankings.

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