At the beginning of August 2018 Hochschule Geisenheim University played host to a high-ranking delegation from the Autonomous Region of Ningxia Hui, China. During the visit the General Director of the region’s Foreign Affairs Office, Kang Zhanping, and the President of Hochschule Geisenheim University, Prof. Dr. Hans Reiner Schultz, signed a letter of intent. In future, both parties want to expand the academic communication and cooperation between the university from the Rheingau and the higher education institutions of the Ningxia Region. The focus will be on the areas of viticulture, enology and wine business.
The Ningxia Region is one of the key wine-growing areas in Northwest China. It has high growth potential and favorable climatic conditions. Its 86 wine estates, several of which have already received international awards, currently produce around a quarter of China’s wine, and they are now facing a fundamental shift in consumer behavior: consumers of Chinese wine are demanding more variety and above all better quality. The government has therefore launched a program for the development of a sustainable, eco-friendly wine industry. In order to ensure the successful implementation of this program, the region now wants to give its local winegrowers the chance to benefit from the expertise of Hochschule Geisenheim University, particularly in the area of marketing.
“Above all, the Ningxia Foreign Affairs Office would like our support in the education of students and teaching staff”, says Schultz. Plans include the conclusion of cooperation agreements with the region’s higher education institutions – particularly with Ningxia University and its own wine school - on student, internship and lecturer exchanges as well as joint research projects.
Schultz stresses: “For us, the fact that the Foreign Affairs Office, as the controlling authority, is actively supporting the cooperation project demonstrates considerable appreciation and recognition of our work. We are looking forward to the next step when we will be meeting our colleagues at Ningxia University to plan specific measures”. The students of Hochschule Geisenheim University will also benefit from the new cooperation; in future they will have even more opportunities of gaining a place on one of the fascinating international internship or student exchanges.
Hochschule Geisenheim University already has long-established links with China in the areas of pomology and technology: with the China Agricultural University in Peking and, within the framework of the GoodBerry Project, with the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences. And China was recently also one of the top 3 countries of origin of Hochschule Geisenheim University’s international students. The Chinese students are mainly enrolled on the English-taught Bachelor’s degree program International Wine Business and the European Master’s degree program Vinifera EuroMaster.
