On November 17, a delegation led by Kiplagat Kotut, President of Moi University, Kenya, visited Donghua University (DHU). Xiang Yanxun, President of DHU, met with the delegation. Heads from the International Cooperation Office, the International Education Center, the Graduate School, and the Confucius Institute were also present at the meeting.
（The Meeting Scene）
On behalf of DHU, Xiang Yanxun extended a warm welcome to President Kiplagat Kotut and his delegation, and reviewed the long-standing partnership between the two universities and its notable achievements. He expressed DHU’s willingness to further deepen cooperation with Moi University in areas including faculty and student exchanges, joint research projects, and the sharing of high-quality educational resources. Xiang also conveyed his hope that the two institutions would work closely together to open a new chapter in Sino-African higher education cooperation.
Kiplagat Kotut spoke highly of DHU’s disciplinary strengths and scientific research accomplishments. He noted that Moi University is prepared to further advance collaboration with DHU in textile engineering on the basis of existing cooperation, while also expanding partnerships into emerging fields such as Information and Communication Technology and Artificial Intelligence. He further expressed the hope of promoting the extension of Chinese language courses into Kenyan middle schools and advancing the regularization of mutual visits and academic exchanges between faculty and students.
Cooperation between DHU and Moi University began in 2011 under the “20+20 Cooperation Plan for Chinese and African Institutions of Higher Education.” In 2015, the two universities jointly established the world’s first Confucius Institute featuring textiles and apparel. In 2024, their partnership was selected for the “China-Africa Universities 100 Cooperation Plan.” In 2025, the “Shanghai Caring Classroom” project was successfully launched at Moi University, and an agreement was signed to jointly build the Overseas College of Excellence for Engineers.
Over the years, the two institutions have developed a series of signature programs, including the Sino-Africa International Symposium on Textiles and Apparel & Sino-Africa Cultural Exchange Forum and the China–Kenyan Creative Cultural and Art Joint Design Competition. They have also carried out specialized initiatives such as Chinese Language Combined with Garment Making and Fashion Design. These collaborative efforts embody the philosophy of “education as a bridge and culture as a bond,” and have become a vivid example of China–Africa people-to-people and cultural exchanges.