A delegation from ZJSU, which included Vice-President Jun Li, was in New Zealand to visit both Massey and the University of Canterbury in an effort to strengthen its partnerships.

Following the commencement of Massey and ZJSU’s relationship in September 2014, Associate Professor Aiqian Ye from the Massey Institute of Food Science and Technology (MFIST) has made many visits. Since then representatives from ZJSU have visited the Riddet Institute and MIFST on several occasions to discuss collaboration and the possibility of establishing a joint research laboratory on food structure and digestion in China.

In May a joint research laboratory was established with Distinguished Professor Harjinder Singh and Dr Ye from Massey attending the official opening, alongside senior ZGSU officials including the Vice-President. Professor Singh has been appointed a Guest Professor and Dr Ye has a Distinguished Expert of The Thousand Talents Plan of ZGSU, which was established by the Government of China in 2008 to recruit highly skilled professors and researchers to China, for the next five years.

As a part of this appointment, Dr Ye is spending one to two months each year doing research and teaching at the joint research laboratory. “I am honored to be appointed to this position, as this will provide a critical link and platform for exploring a range of educational and research collaborations between Massey and ZJSU.”

ZJSU is funding one PhD student and one Postdoctoral Fellow to study at MIFST, with joint supervision provided by each university. ZJSU would like to increase the number of students it sends to Massey from one to five each year.

Professor Singh describes ZJSU as an “up and coming, well connected and well-funded” university and says it has one of the fastest growing and highly ranked food science and nutrition schools, globally.