Spring is the season full of hope, when flowers bloom and the weather warms up. In the southern hemisphere, the first 27 exchange students from the University of Waikato Joint Institute at Zhejiang University City College (NZUWI) arrived in New Zealand at the end of summer after a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19. Stepping onto the campus of their second “alma mater", they not only enjoy the beautiful campus environment and the warm and friendly Waikato staff, but the experience of New Zealand’s many cultures.

On February 18th, there was a special "encounter" when Chinese Minister-counsellor to New Zealand, Ye Su, visited exchange students studying at the University of Waikato. Ye Su and the exchange student group visited the campus and had a friendly conversation.

He welcomed and greeted the first group of Chinese exchange students to come to New Zealand after the three-year pandemic, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand."Minister-counsellor Ye introduced the friendly relations between China and New Zealand to us, and also gave us suggestions and advice on our study, life, and daily safety," said Zhou Ning, a student from BDM2001.

"As newcomers to New Zealand, we are slowly adapting to life here. Minister-counsellor Ye is very concerned about our studies and life in New Zealand, and he makes us feel the warmth from our hometown. While learning our professional knowledge, we will also play the role of "ambassadors" of Chinese culture, presenting a brand-new and lively image of China from multiple perspectives to foreign friends," said Guo Runli, a student from BDM2001.

"This is not my first time meeting Minister-counsellor Ye," recalled Hu Bin, a student from BDI2001. "When the Class of 2020 was undergoing military training, Minister-counsellor Ye, who was then the deputy secretary of the party committee of Zhejiang University City College, served as the political commissar of the military training team. Today, we meet again at the University of Waikato, and once again feel the warmth and friendliness of Ambassador Ye." The familiar "City College temperature" is expressed in a foreign country.

Ye Su also brought a precious gift for the international students - a commemorative envelope celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand, signed by Wang Xiaolong, China's Ambassador to New Zealand. He hoped that the students would cherish their study life at the University of Waikato, be ambitious, work hard, and become people with ideals and responsibilities, who are capable of doing great things, and become pillars of the country who care about national affairs and shoulder national responsibilities.

Before visiting the students, Ye Su met with Professor Alister Jones, the senior executive vice president of the University of Waikato, to have in-depth exchanges on deepening education cooperation between China and New Zealand.

Looking back over the past 20 years, time passes by leisurely. In 2002, ZUCC signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Waikato on undergraduate education and foreign cooperation projects. In September 2016, the Ministry of Education approved the establishment of Sino-foreign cooperative educational institutions. In 2017, the first enrollment took place, and since then, NZUWI has cultivated two excellent classes of graduates, with a dual degree rate of 99.3% and 76.5% of students will pursue their master programme study home and abroad. NZUWI has gained a good reputation in society for its achievements in education.

The students were encouraged by Minister-counsellor Ye to study hard, experience diverse cultures, and share Chinese stories, which constitute the new definition of the "three good students."