On November 19, 2019, 20 participants of the Australia New Colombo Program, organized by the Business School of Western Sydney University, Australia, arrived in Xiamen and started their study tour. The New Colombo Program is a landmark initiative proposed by the Australian government to enhance students’ understanding of the Indo-Pacific region by supporting Australian undergraduates to learn while travel in countries in this area. The project has been successfully held in our school in 2017 and 2018 respectively, this year’ exchange activity marks the continuation of the successful cooperation and the profound friendship between UWS and our school. The 2019 "Western Sydney University-Xiamen University New Colombo Exchange Program" is jointly held by the Center for Accounting Studies of Xiamen University, the Accounting Department of the School of Management of Xiamen University, and Western Sydney University. The exchange activity lasted for ten days. Our school arranged different kinds of lectures about business in China and cultural sightseeing, such as campus visits, corporate visits, cultural tourism.
The Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony was held on the morning of November 20th, at the 512 meeting room of Chengfeng building. Professor Liu Feng, one of the Chinese initiator of the event, was the president of the opening ceremony. He warmly welcomed the arrival of the teachers and students of Western Sydney University, and expressed his beautiful wish that the teachers and students of Western Sydney University can grasp this great opportunity to get to know more about the culture of Xiamen, to make some Chinese friends, to taste some Xiamen cuisine, to go some sightseeing, and to learn about the way how Chinese doing business during the following days. Hong Qiuxia, Secretary of the Party Committee of School of Management delivered a speech. On behalf of XMU, She extended her welcome for the teachers and students from Western Sydney University, and also expressed her best wishes for this exchange event.
(Professor Liu Feng)
(Hong Qiuxia, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee)
Dr. Dilupa, one of the professors from the Business School of University of Western Sydney in the team, also a initiator of the event, delivered a short speech after that. She expressed her sincere gratitude to the teachers and students of Xiamen University for their strong support and active participation, and hoped that the students of University of Western Sydney would enjoy the various activities ahead and learn something, she wished that when think back ten days later, everyone would say this travel was worthwhile. Dean Wu Huiying of Business School of University of Western Sydney, another initiator of the event, also expressed sincere thanks to the teachers and students of Xiamen University. She said that the successful completion of the event would be inseparable from everyone’s hard work, she then emphasized the profound impact of this exchange event.
( Dr. Dilupa )
( Dr. Wu Huiying )
Students from University of Western Sydney took their turn to introduce themselves one by one. They greeted Chinese participants, briefly introduced their names, majors, and expectations for this event. The student volunteers of Xiamen University then took their turn, our volunteers showed a warm welcome for the guests abroad, and make good wishes for the long-lasting friendship between students from the two universities.
Themed lectures
Two Assistant Professors from school of business in university of Xiamen, Xu Yanxiang, from Department of Business Administration ,and Zheng Zhen, from Department of Accounting, gave lectures on Chinese Enterprises’ Capabilities and Overseas Strategies and Chinese Culture respectively. Assistant professor Xu introduced business environment and practice in china, while assistant professor Zheng showed unique culture about traditional Chinese festivals to the students of University of Western Sydney. These two lectures laid a good foundation for overseas students to understand China, which helped them gain a meaningful experience in the follow-up visits and cultural tourism.
(Assistant Professor Xu Yanxiang)
(Assistant Professor Zheng Zhen)
Field Study
In addition to learning China’ business environment and traditional culture inside the classroom, XMU also arranged business visits for the UWS exchange Group, which gives them the opportunity to conduct field research and communicate in-depth with Chinese local companies . On the morning of November 25th, accompanied by a number of student volunteers from our school, the UWS exchange group visited Xiamen OnlyYou company. This is the third time that OnlyYou company cooperated with these two schools since the implementation of the New Colombo Plan in China in 2017. OnlyYou prepared a series of face-to-face exchange activities for the student group. The senior instructor of the company introduced the history of the OnlyYou, their core technology of artificial intelligence, and explained the application of advanced technology in the field of finance and taxation in detail. He also showed their full line of high technology products, and explained in-depth about the two major products, EasyAccount and EasyGovFinance. These activities provided a deep business experience for the students from China and Australia, and helped them gained a better understanding about financial management and the application of intelligent technology in financial.
The students of UWS and XMU debated heatly about challenges on the feasibility of technology application, like product application in segmented area, highly competition, market expansion and other related issues. The sparks of thinking make this event more meaningful. This visit to OnlyYOU provide an opportunity for students from University of Western Sydney to learn about the commercial application of artificial intelligence, and see in person some high-value products and solutions in the field of China's intelligent finance and taxation.
On November 26th, the delegation visited Bailuda (Xiamen) Industrial Co., Ltd. Led by the company's manager Mr.Qiu, the group tour around the factory, and watched the production process of company. In addition, Mr. Qiu introduced to the students the operation of the company's ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning) system, and the requirements for accountants in the era of big data, which lea heated discussions among the students.
Cultural Tourism
The teachers and students of Xiamen University and University of Western Sydney also took some time to travel around Xiamen city and Fujian province, to see the famous cultural landscapes in the Golden Triangle of Southern Fujian province: Nanjing Tulou, showed the wisdom of people, Gulangyu islanf, the island of music, Zhongshan Street, an exotic business center, and also, Xiamen University, one of the most beautiful campus in China. Overseas students were amazed by China's beautiful natural and cultural landscape. And during these sightseeing, students from the two schools developed a profound friendship.
Group Discussions and Report
At the end of the exchange activity , with the help of Xiamen University student volunteers, students from University of Western Sydney prepared a group presentation, it was held in room 512 of Chengfeng Building in the afternoon of the 28th.
Teachers and students from Xiamen University and University of Western Sydney attended this meeting. The meeting was mainly sharing students’ advice after visiting OnlyYou company. Each group shared their thoughts from unique perspectives, the topics ranged from the company management to its furure development. By comparing with companies in the same industry, or paying attention to the market situation and the like, students actively expressed their opinions and advices on OnlyYou’ management and future development,
The successful implementation of the series of the Australia New Colombo Program promoted international cooperation between the two universities, it paved a way for further exchanges on teaching and scientific research cooperation. And, it helped to establish the friendship between the students of the two schools and broaden their vision. By lectures, field study and travel, students from the two schools communicate with each other and became friends. what’ more impotently, they developed higher abilities to solving problems, better leadership and higher sense of social responsibility, which would equip them better for global challenges. Since china is now playing an increasingly important role in the world, students could lay the foundation for their future career planning and global vision by better understanding of Chinese culture and China’s business environment, and learning China’s advanced corporate management.
