Event reports
In the last ten years the People's Republic of China and the Federal Republic of Germany made major investments in science, research and technology and significantly expanded the capacities of the universities.
The rapid economical and social development of China results in an increasing demand for well-trained and highly skilled professionals.
Due to Germany’s resource scarcity, economic success, preservation and development of quality of life are dependant on whether science, research and technology continue to be competitive internationally.
Any quick and quantitatively extensive development raises significant control issues, which representatives of state and society as well as universities, science and research have to devote themselves to if they want to fulfill their respective responsibilities.
The coordination and decision-making processes require reflection and have to be examined to evaluate if they are able to meet the complexity of qualitative and quantitative dimensions of a rapidly developing science and higher education system.
The Chinese-German conference aimed at discussing these sensitive issues taking Chinese and German experiences into consideration.
After introductory contributions of the initiators of the conference, Prof. Chen Hongjie, School of Education, Peking University, and Thomas Awe, director of the Peking office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V., Dr. Hardy Boeckle, head of the Cultural Department of the German Embassy, pointed out the close German-Chinese cooperation in education and culture.
The lectures of Prof. Dr. Xu Zhihong, former president of Peking University, and Prof. Dr. Erich Thies, former general secretary of the The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK), led to an intense debate on the achievements and failures of the national policy of higher education in Germany and China.
Taking the model of the "German Science Council” as an example, the international participants debated control and evaluation models of the scientific system and the state's role in science policy. The experts also commented on the challenges of ensuring quality of science and research.
The conference contributed to formulate concrete concepts that will be likely to enhance the interaction of experts in state and society, science and research based on their respective responsibilities.
