China-NRW University Alliance: First summer school with a visit from a Chinese school class
Pupils from Hangzhou Yuhua Greentown School in China at the Grifflenberg campus of the university of Wuppertal
The China-NRW University Alliance is coordinated by the University of Cologne. Its aim is to promote German-Chinese academic and economic cooperation. The Alliance maintains a joint liaison office in Beijing. In addition to the BUW and the University of Cologne, the following universities from North Rhine-Westphalia are members:
- Dortmund Technical University
- University of Münster
- Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences
Since 2021, the consortium universities have been offering digital summer schools for pupils at Chinese and Indian DSD schools as a recruitment and marketing tool.
DSD schools comprise over 1,100 national educational institutions worldwide that offer the German Language Diploma (DSD) of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. They provide pupils with the German language skills required for studying in Germany (DSD I for the Studienkolleg, DSD II for university), are funded by the Central Agency for Schools Abroad (ZfA) and form part of the PASCH initiative.
In 2026, the Summer School took place for the first time as a face-to-face event with 24 pupils from Year 10 and two teachers from Hangzhou Yuhua Greentown School, an internationally oriented private boarding school run by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education, located west of Hangzhou, .
From 7 to 17 July 2026, the participants had the opportunity to get to know the four member universities and other higher education institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia. Their trip took them to Cologne, Dortmund, Aachen, Münster, Bielefeld, Bonn and Siegen. On 15 July 2026, they visited BUW. The programme included a German language course at the Language Teaching Institute, an introduction to the university, its degree programmes, services and the application process. A campus tour and an excursion to Schloss Burg in Solingen rounded off the visit.
BUW’s International Center used the visit to hold initial discussions about opportunities for Wuppertal students aiming to become teachers to undertake school placements at Hangzhou Yuhua Greentown School; these discussions were well received.
