On the afternoon of December 7, a media group covering the Belt and Road Beijing Imprint, an event of the 2023 “City of Colorful Beijing” on a New Journey, visited the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (BUCEA). Zhang Dayu, President of BUCEA, Guo Xian, a faculty member from the School of Geomatics and Urban Spatial Informatics, and Ibrahim, a representative of international graduates from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), shared their insights and experience related to BRI. The media group consisted of journalists from central and local media outlets and online platforms, such as People’s Daily Online, China Youth, Beijing Daily, BJNews, Qianlong, and YNET.
As a municipal architectural university in Beijing, BUCEA has seized the opportunity presented by BRI cooperation to establish the Belt and Road Architectural University International Consortium (BRAUIC). This is a platform for cultivating talents with a global vision, encouraging collaborative innovation of technology, and promoting people-to-people exchanges. It enhances BUCEA's role as a pacesetter in scientific and technological research and talent development for urban and rural construction in BRI countries, ultimately contributing to the establishment of a BRI educational community.
According to BUCEA President Zhang Dayu, 84 universities and companies from 28 countries have joined the BRAUIC since its establishment six years ago. It has held a number of signature events benefiting nearly 10,000 teachers and students from over 100 universities, including seven annual conferences and education forums, seven urban design conferences, seven international summer schools, four international student competitions on digital architectural design, and three Global Campus Exchange Programs for Summer Schools. BUCEA has also introduced postgraduate programs spanning six majors such as architecture, for international students from BRI countries and scholarships were given to over 100 of them.
Supported by BRAUIC, the member universities have also jointly applied for international laboratories and research projects, published papers, and hosted international conferences. By now, the Ministry of Education has approved the joint application by BUCEA and Politecnico di Milano for the International Joint Laboratory of Safety and Energy Conservation for Ancient Buildings. In addition, BUCEA has also worked with the University of Novi Sad in Serbia and other institutions, to establish the International Innovation Center for Architectural Heritage Protection and Development in the Belt and Road Region, with a bilateral agreement signed at the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
Guo Xian has been deeply involved in a research project between BUCEA and the University of Novi Sad on environmental monitoring of the China-Europe freight train. Through communication with their international counterparts, he and his team found that Chinese commodities, particularly electric vehicles, are highly sought-after, of which the trade is boosted by the China-Europe freight train. The reason for such booming trade, as they were told, is that the China-Europe freight train offers a cost advantage over air freight and faster delivery than by sea.
"This year, we are seeing an uptrend in such trade, as more and more people in BRI countries are showing a preference for products made in China," said Ibrahim, who is also the founder of a trading company from Libya, his hometown. The company is now sourcing goods from Wuhan, Chaozhou, and Yiwu, and plans to export four containers of merchandise overseas. He showcased his made-in-China cell phone, backpack, and headphone to the journalists, emphasizing their competitive prices and good quality when exported to BRI countries. Today, those Chinese products exported overseas through his company have already made their way to countries like Qatar, Egypt, and Morocco.
