Lincoln Universtiy forms close ties with China

New Zealand’s specialist land based university, Lincoln University; has recently signed a significant three–way agreement for research collaboration with two Chinese Universities.
The agreement was a key milestone in the programme of events during NZ Education Week aimed at highlighting NZ as a highly developed centre of education and re search at the NZ Expo in Shanghai.
The research collaboration was signed with Zhejiang University, the third ranked Chinese University based in Hangzhou, and Guizhou University based in the far west of China.
Lincoln University Vice Chancellor Roger Field says the agreement will help strengthen the growing bilateral relationship between NZ and China.
“China is a vital market for NZ and this unique tripartite arrangement will help to further strengthen ties between the two countries,” he says.
“The closer working relationship largely stems from the bilateral cooperation of the Free Trade agreement signed between the two countries in 2008.
“These agreements see a NZ university joining with a highly ranked Eastern seaboard Chinese university and a developing Western province university to collaborate on mutually beneficial research.
The collaboration shows a firm desire from NZ, and particularly from Lincoln University, to support the Chinese national strategy to develop the largely impoverished Western provinces.
“The research will focus on issues of importance to both countries and is particularly well suited to the land based research strengths of Lincoln University,” he says.
The collaborative research will initially cover land based resource management in the areas of non point source contamination and food safety related to dairy production and the supply chain.
Key staff from Lincoln University travelled to Zhejiang  University then Huizhou University to begin work on progressing the research proposals which it is envisages will enable research to begin later this year.