On May 11, 2025, the plaque-awarding ceremony for the Qingdao Cooperation and Exchange Center of Japan-China Talent Association was grandly held in Qingdao, marking the launch of another key hub for China-Japan talent and technological exchanges. Government representatives, the association’s president, university experts, education practitioners and business elites from China and Japan gathered to witness this milestone event for regional coordinated development.

At the event, the speech delivered by Dr. Chen Huabei, President of the Japan-China Talent Association, became the highlight. A seasoned practitioner of talent strategy with both global vision and deep-rooted patriotism, President Chen has been engaged in international talent exchanges for more than four decades. He led major intellectual introduction projects of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, serves as a visiting professor at more than ten universities in China and Japan and an expert for government think tanks, building a “super hub for talent cooperation” connecting government, industry and academia.

Since founding the Japan-China Talent Association, he has upheld the mission of “building a bridge for China-Japan talent and technological exchanges”. He has integrated high-level resources from government, industry, academia and business circles in Japan, promoted the development of an Asian education community, practiced the core philosophy that “talents have no borders”, and become a key promoter of China-Japan talent exchanges.

Leveraging an Open Highland to Fuel New Momentum for Cooperation

The establishment of the Qingdao Exchange Center is a crucial initiative of the Association in response to China’s strategy of “attracting talents and investment” and deepening pragmatic China-Japan cooperation. As an important coastal open city in China and a major node city on the New Eurasian Land Bridge Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative, Qingdao is in a critical period of shifting growth drivers. There is an urgent demand for international talents, technologies and projects in high-end manufacturing, sci-tech innovation and industrial upgrading. Japan’s advanced experience in precision manufacturing, digital technology and vocational education is highly compatible with the development needs of Qingdao’s “Top Ten Industries”.

President Chen emphasized in his speech: “Qingdao’s inherent openness and Japan’s technological strengths will be precisely matched via the Exchange Center, creating more development opportunities for universities, enterprises and talents of both countries, and helping Qingdao build itself into a strategic pivot city for the ‘Dual Circulation’ development pattern.”

Nationwide Layout, In-depth Engagement in Regional Development

The launch of the Qingdao Exchange Center continues the Japan-China Talent Association’s successful experience in local cooperation. Following the Dalian Cooperation and Exchange Center, the Association’s first branch in Northeast China, the Qingdao Center serves as a key foothold for the Association in North China. It signifies further advancement of the Association’s strategy of “cultivating regional markets and delivering targeted services”.

In the future, the two centers will coordinate with each other from north to south to efficiently connect Japanese resources with local development demands across China, injecting international impetus into the revitalization of Northeast China and the development of the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration.

Taking Talents as the Medium to Embark on a New Journey of Cooperation

At the plaque-awarding ceremony, Liu Boqing, Director of the Qingdao Cooperation and Exchange Center of Japan-China Talent Association, expressed gratitude to President Chen for traveling to Qingdao for the ceremony. This gesture represents not only trust in the Qingdao Exchange Center, but also sincere expectations for bilateral talent exchange and cooperation. Director Liu stressed that the plaque-awarding ceremony marks a starting point rather than an end. Going forward, under the leadership of President Chen, the Qingdao Exchange Center will fully implement his talent cooperation strategy. Adhering to the tenet of “Precise Matching & Efficient Services”, the center will pay close attention to every detail of China-Japan cooperation in talents, technology and education. Relying on the platform of the Japan-China Talent Association, it will contribute to fostering a China-Japan partnership that meets the requirements of the new era.

Bao Anping, Deputy Director of the Qingdao Cooperation and Exchange Center of Japan-China Talent Association, noted that as President Chen put it: “Talent is the resource for development, and exchange is the eternal theme of cooperation.”

The founding of the Qingdao Exchange Center of Japan-China Talent Association is far more than a plaque-awarding ceremony; it marks the beginning of a new chapter for China-Japan cooperation. It is expected that both sides will take talents as the medium and innovation as the sail, forge ahead in the broad field of China-Japan exchanges, and jointly write a new chapter of mutual benefit and win-win results.

The establishment of the Qingdao Cooperation and Exchange Center of Japan-China Talent Association received support from the West Coast New Area International Investment Promotion Center of Qingdao, the General Association of Chinese Students Studied in Japan, the School of Continuing Education of Qingdao University, Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone International, as well as relevant government bodies, educational institutions, enterprises and associations. President Chen also issued appointment letters of advisors to supporting organizations.

The venue was filled with a warm and harmonious atmosphere. All participants gathered to cherish profound friendship, discussed new directions for cooperation based on industry trends and future plans. Multiple consensuses were reached through fruitful communication amid exchanges of ideas and experience. As dusk fell, the ceremony for the founding of the Qingdao Center came to a successful close amid cheerful conversations, laying seeds of hope for future joint efforts.

About Japan-China Talent Association

The Japan-China Talent Association (JCAT) is a non-profit incorporated association registered at the Tokyo Legal Affairs Bureau in Japan. It has long been committed to China-Japan talent exchanges and project cooperation. By integrating governmental, industrial, academic and business resources of both countries, it provides local governments and enterprises with one-stop services for “attracting talents, capital and technologies”, acting as an important bridge for non-governmental exchanges between China and Japan.

Qingdao Exchange Center of Japan-China Talent Association

Cooperation Hotline: [Exchange Center] +86 18561360166