Belgian university aims to recruit more Chinese students online

A prestigious Belgian university is launching a series of online campaigns in 2017 to attract moreChinese students, a senior staff member from the university told Xinhua.

Frederik De Decker, director of the International Relations Office of Ghent University, says that the university decided to bring itself closer to Chinese applicants by launching a recruitment website in Chinese and making good use of popular Chinese social media.

“We have noticed a growing satisfaction rate among our staff with Chinese students in recent years,” says De Decker. “They acquire good language skills and strong academic competence before they enroll in our university. We really want to have more Chinese students in our campus.”

De Decker also notes that having more Chinese students in the university would also benefit local students.

“China and Belgium have very good relations, so it’s important for Belgian students to interact with their Chinese peers throughout their studies and prepare for cooperation in the future,” he says.

He adds that the university’s Chinese staff, current Chinese students and Chinese alumni had joined in the effort to develop for these campaigns which would take off in the coming months.

The initiative was conceived on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Ghent University, and the 10th anniversary of its China Platform.

The China Platform is a special mechanism established not only to facilitate the university’s academic interaction with Chinese universities and organizations, but also to help newcomers adjust to their lives and studies in Ghent.

Ghent University, founded in 1817, was ranked 62 in the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking).

There are currently around 350Chinese students studying in the university.