Zheng Zeguang, China's ambassador to the United Kingdom, visited two universities in northern England last week, where he promoted educational exchanges between China and the UK and encouraged Chinese students to be cultural ambassadors.

During a visit to the University of Leeds, Zheng met with Simone Buitendijk, vice-chancellor of the university, and noted that China values highly education, science and technology, and human resources, and is committed to the opening-up of the education sector.

"Collaboration between universities of our two countries reinforces our respective strengths in terms of the quality of teaching and research," Zheng said. "Without international exchanges, we will not be able to make as rapid progress in scientific research as it should be, as we have done in the past."

Zheng also stressed that, while all countries have concerns about national security, educators can differentiate between real national security concerns and normal exchanges and collaborations.

With a history going back nearly 120 years, the University of Leeds is a founding member of the prestigious Russell Group of universities in the UK, and hosts nearly 6,000 Chinese students.

Buitendijk praised Chinese students and teachers studying and teaching at the university, for their hard work and outstanding performances and said the university will uphold the spirit of diversity and openness, and continuously deepen academic exchanges and cooperation with Chinese universities.

"Working really closely together with universities in other countries, attracting students from other countries, creating the international classroom, these are core elements of our 10-year strategy," she said, adding that sending more UK students to China for longer periods of time during their studies was also important.

"Many of the relationships we now have with Chinese universities lend themselves really well for that kind of exchange, and the more you exchange, the more close and strong the collaboration becomes. For our UK students, their time in China will change their view on the world, and on global problems."

During a visit to the University of York, Zheng met with Charlie Jeffery, its vice-chancellor, and expressed his thanks for the favorable learning environment for the 3,000 Chinese students studying there.

Zheng said he hoped the University of York would leverage the sister-city relationship York has with Nanjing, in Jiangsu province, to seize new opportunities connected to China's development, and enhance exchanges and cooperation with Chinese counterparts.

Jeffery echoed the ambassador, noting that the university is committed to openness and internationalization, and that it enjoys sound collaboration with many Chinese universities. He said he hoped more outstanding teachers and students from the UK and China will have the chance to participate in study exchanges, promote research collaboration, and enhance mutual understanding and learning.

During his visit, Zheng also met with Chinese students studying at the University of York and listened to their experiences as international students, while encouraging them to broaden their knowledge and capacity, promote friendship and goodwill during their stay in the UK, and make contributions to closer exchanges and cooperation between China and the world.