Anna Zhao

    Anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    THIRTEEN foreign students received a bachelor’s degree from Shenzhen University on Friday, the first group of foreign students to obtain such a degree in the university’s history.

    They were among the 15 who graduated from the university’s first international class of the College of International Exchange. Since the class opened in 2010, 150 students from 36 countries have pursued a degree in the university’s Chinese language and business programs.

    South African student De Wet Boshoff, who received this year’s top student award, made a passionate graduation speech in fluent Chinese.

    Boshoff, who is taking a marketing job at a high-tech company in Nanshan, said he felt excited to start a new chapter in his life by working out his own way out in a city for which he has great affection.

    “We hope to use our knowledge and skills to know more about Chinese culture and promote cross-cultural exchanges, and to spread what we’ve witnessed with China’s development to our friends and families in our home countries, so that more people will know,” Boshoff said. “Graduation is not an end but a beginning of a new life spent realizing our values.” (Continued on P3)

    Boshoff said the university is introducing programs to promote ties with his country and he hopes to contribute to more communication between Chinese and South African students.

    Malaysian-born Hanisah Binti Khair Anuar was influenced by her father, who does business in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, to learn Chinese and business at the university. She said her four years at the university not only taught her about Chinese language and culture, but also about cultures from other places, since she lived in an international dormitory.

    Binti Khair Anuar, who sees an opportunity to develop her family’s business in Shenzhen, said she would either go back to Malaysia to find a job that requires good Chinese or work for a company that has branches in Shenzhen.

    The College of International Exchange’s dean, Wang Qingguo, said an increasing number of foreign students are taking undergraduate programs since the college’s inception in 2010, adding that he thinks this adds to the global recognition and reputability of Chinese college degrees.

    The university currently has undergraduate programs taught in English by professors and lecturers from all over the world, and post-graduate and doctorate programs are scheduled to begin in the near future.

    Wang said foreign students used to study language at SZU, but now they are studying for degrees, a trend that could be both helpful for the future development of students as well as for international relations.

    Foreign students at the university are also provided with opportunities to be actively involved in the community with programs allowing them to volunteer at primary and high schools, voice their opinions on local media and do internships at Chinese companies.

    “We have created various chances for [foreign students] to interact with local organizations so that they can feel they are living their lives to the fullest, not merely playing the role of guests in the city. Many students have expressed their willingness to continue their studies in China or remain in Shenzhen for work,” Wang said.

    Foreign students studying at the university are also given scholarships and financial aid from Shenzhen Municipal Government and Guangzhou Provincial Government, who hope to encourage more young people to study at the university, Wang said.