Southampton: City College Southampton strengthens links with China

In a cross-cultural visit to China, City College Southampton's deputy CEO Fred Stanley is currently spending 10 days at Anhui Automobile Industry College, in Hefei, shadowing the Principal Mr Ghumiao Zhu, who visited Southampton earlier this year.

Stanley joined other UK college principals in China for an exchange of ideas, educational visits around the region and to take part in college life.

The UK delegation is spending a total of four days in Beijing and eight days at the college. The Anhui Province Automobile Industry College has 10,000 students and is the National Auto Repair Technical Training Base. It is also the director unit of the Anhui Auto Vocational Education Group and Anhui Education International Exchange governing unit.

The principal shadowing programme is a leadership initiative organised by the British Council, to give principals an improved understanding on the best ways of leading and managing colleges. This is the first time City College has taken part.

Stanley said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our colleges to exchange ideas and establish new contacts in China with a view to future partnership work.

“When Mr Zhu visited City College, he was impressed by our way of teaching, particularly the flow of ideas in the classroom. He said that one of the highlights of his visit was touring the Ford Assembly Plant in Southampton."

During his 10-day stay in March, Zhu visited a number of the south’s most prominent industries, attractions and events, including Southampton Docks, the Sea City Museum, the Mayflower Theatre and Beaulieu Motor Museum, in addition to taking part in City College life.