On 15th November 2020, the experts, lecturers and students from Shandong Xiehe University (SXU) and Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) gathered together online to jointly launch the “Virtual Exchange Programme (VEP)”. Dr. Koo May Yeok (NYP) and Ms Xu Xia, vice dean of school of nursing (SXU), co-hosted the programme. Lecturers Teng Yue and Huang Shimin, and 36  students from both schools participated in the exchange programme which lasts for one week.

Through the online short-term study tour, our lecturers and students experienced the teaching philosophy of Singaporean Universities. The "Lecture on Singapore Health and Social health Care System" made the students learn about the concept of diversified health service and innovative ideas. The virtual introduction of a particular hospital made the students expand their professional knowledge, especially on the development planning, cultural construction and medical system of Singapore. In the cultural exchange activity, the students from both sides had a friendly exchange on the food culture, scenic spots and traditional festival culture of China and Singapore. The VEP not only improved our students’ English and broadened their views, but also made them gain valuable friendship through the collision of ideas and cultural exchanges.

With the outbreak and global spread of COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, most universities face a big challenge about the development of international exchanges and cooperation. The international office (SXU) has found a new way to build an online international exchange platform for our teachers and students by using the resources of international famous colleges and universities. Cooperating with Nanyang Polytechnic, a well-known university in Singapore, we have completed the preparation, testing and project approval of this programme. The SXU-NYP online student exchange programme also received strong support from the leaders of SXU, and the staff from network center (SXU) provided necessary technical support to make this programme carried out successfully. Particularly, we would like to express sincere thanks to Dr. Koo May Yeok for her efforts on premeditating, communicating, and doing trials quite a few times about this programme for such a long time in advance.

VEP project is the first online international exchange activity for our university. On the basis of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between China and Singapore, we can better cultivate international talents through resource exchange which benefits students from both countries. This activity is significantly helpful to implement the strategy of education internationalization of SXU.