On the afternoon of 24th July, the 2026 SBC Management Council Meeting was held at the Fuxing Road campus of USST. Professor ZHAO Zhen, President of USST and Chair of the SBC Management Council; Dr CAI Yonglian, Vice President of USST and Dean of SBC; and other Chinese members of the Management Council attended the meeting, alongside UK members including Dr Malcolm Butler, Vice-President of the University of Sheffield, and Dr Aileen Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University. Dr Julia Wang, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International Relations) of Liverpool John Moores University; Professor Laura Bishop, Executive Dean of SBC; and members of the College Executive Team also attended the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Professor ZHAO Zhen.
The Management Council Meeting
In his address, Professor ZHAO Zhen extended a warm welcome to the Management Council members present at the meeting and expressed his gratitude to the UK partner universities for their efforts and contributions to the development of USST, as well as their continued care and support. He noted that USST places great emphasis on the development and progress of SBC across all areas. The year 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the Sino-UK educational cooperation between SBC and its UK partner universities. As a Sino-foreign cooperative education institution adopting the “1-to-N” consortium model, SBC has achieved outstanding outcomes in recent years. The College has received honours such as the “Outstanding Contribution Award” and the “Outstanding Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education Institution” from the Chinese-foreign Joint Education Committee (CJEC). He expressed the hope that UK partner universities, building on the international platform of SBC, would further deepen exchanges and cooperation with USST, strengthen high-level talent cultivation and international scientific research collaboration, and take Sino-UK higher education cooperation to new heights. Professor ZHAO Zhen cordially invited the UK members of the Management Council to attend the series of events celebrating USST’s 120th anniversary and SBC’s 20th anniversary. The UK members of the Management Council expressed their appreciation for the invitation and looked forward to being present on-site to celebrate this significant milestone together.
During the meeting, the Management Council members heard the work report delivered by Professor Laura Bishop, Executive Dean of SBC, with in-depth discussions focusing on areas including College branding and promotion, international student admission, the independent recruitment programme, and student academic development. On behalf of the College, she expressed sincere gratitude to the leadership and colleagues from both Chinese and UK sides for their continued care and support for SBC’s development. She stated that the College would further strengthen cooperation and exchanges with UK partner universities, and taking the 20th anniversary as an opportunity, would drive the College’s high-quality development to a new level through talent cultivation, academic exchange, and research collaboration.
The Management Council members fully acknowledged the College’s initiatives and progress in campus culture development, enrolment structure optimisation, two-way study visits, and international cooperation, and offered suggestions for its future priorities.
Prior to the meeting, Professor ZHAO Zhen conducted an on-site visit and inspection of SBC to gain a comprehensive understanding of the College’s operations, heard a work report from the College Executive Team, and provided specific guidance. Dr CAI Yonglian accompanied the visit, with Professor HE Jianjia, Deputy Director of USST’s Party and President Office, and members of the College Executive Team participating in the discussion and inspection.
Group photo
Visiting the SBC Education Achievements Exhibition
