The inaugural meeting of a group of China's overseas vocational colleges was held on May 10 at Shandong Polytechnic College, which is located in Jining, East China's Shandong province.

The college, along with another 46 educational institutions and a dozen of enterprises including China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group and Aluminum Corporation of China, plans to build 14 campuses in eight countries, including Myanmar, Indonesia, Guinea, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The colleges are expected to provide vocational education for over 30,000 overseas workers and therefore promote the high-quality development of Chinese enterprises' overseas businesses, as well as bolster international cooperation.

To improve the quality of education, China's overseas vocational colleges need to build a strong team of teachers, conduct research on global issues, as well as organize student exchange programs, said Zhao Lixia, an official of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Talent Center, at the meeting.

Liang Chimin, former principal of the Sino-Zambian Vocational College of Science and Technology, the first higher education institution that was founded overseas by Chinese colleges independently, also shared his experiences in a speech at the meeting.

Shandong Polytechnic College has ramped up its efforts to cooperate with international educational institutions, run schools overseas, enroll international students, and enhance cross-cultural exchanges, according to Xu Ke, a Party official of the college.