19 July 2010 Lincoln and top Chinese university to share land-based research expertise

Closer links between New Zealand and China have the support of both governments  and against this background the head of China's top rank Zhejiang University has visited New Zealand's specialist land-based university, Lincoln University.

Areas of collaboration for the two universities were explored in talks between  the heads of both institutions, Vice-Chancellor Professor Roger Field and  President Professor Yang Wei. 

Professor Yang, on his first visit to New Zealand, spent a day at Lincoln University meeting senior staff and seeing at first hand examples of the University's research work.

The President's call followed Professor Field's visit to Zhejiang University in June when a tripartite agreement was signed between Lincoln,  Zhejiang, and a university with which Zhejiang has close associations, Guizhou.

Zhejiang University, founded in 1897, is in the top tier of Chinese universities. It is located in the city of Hangzhou in the eastern seaboard province of Zhejiang. Guizhou lies inland in south-western China. During the turbulence of the Second World War, Zhejiang University moved its operation temporarily inland to the Guizhou campus, so there is a strong historical foundation for today's close relationship between the two institutions. 

Scientific contributions by Lincoln University to China's Great Western Development Programme  -  the country's effort to boost its less developed western areas  -  seem likely.