2023 was a pivotal year in the execution of Xi'an Eurasia University’s "14th Five-Year Plan." The university thoroughly implemented the Party's educational policies and the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education. Guided by the "value-oriented education" concept and a philosophy of "student-centered, contributor-focused" learning, the university focused on six key aspects: "application-oriented talent cultivation, localized internationalization, scientific research and social services, talent projects, brand upgrading and cultural construction, and digital transformation," offering high-quality educational services to students and advancing open education to contribute to the regional and urban development.

During this year, we seized the opportunity of the fifth Education and Teaching Conference to deepen the transformation towards a "student-centered" paradigm and to construct a new model for cultivating applied talent, creating a collaborative education highland featuring deep university-enterprise integration. Accelerating the process of localized internationalization, we continued to improve the teaching quality and learning outcomes of international programs, with faculty and students achieving historic breakthroughs in various disciplines and sports competitions. Engaging extensively with society and industries, we promoted the high-quality transformation of scientific research and social services, held a series of academic forums and cultural exhibitions, and our influence continued to rise in the industry and society.

At the beginning of 2024, let's review the top 10 pieces of news that attracted the most attention from teachers and students in 2023 and take a quick look at these highlight moments.

01 The book on Xi'an Eurasia University's History Foster Your Unique Gifts and Talents was released, unveiling the university's 25-year transformation journey and offering an in-depth interpretation of its unique approach to education.

On November 17, the history of Xi'an Eurasia University, Foster Your Unique Gifts and Talents: The 25-Year Transformation and Development Path of Xi'an Eurasia University, was officially released at Qujiang Bookstore. At the event, scholars from the educational and cultural fields gathered to engage in themed dialogues around Xi'an Eurasia University's educational journey, "Eurasia's Mark: Reform and Exploration" and "Facing the Future: Culture and Empowerment," witnessed by more than 70 teachers, students, alumni, and friends from the media as a new educational vision unfolded. Professor Hu Jianbo, Founder and Chairman of Xi'an Eurasia University, and Mr. Pan Dongyan, the book's author, signed copies for attendees.

The book was written by Mr. Pan Dongyan, former Executive Deputy Editor of CEIBS Business Review and a seasoned management case study researcher and writer. Mr. Pan presents a vivid, panoramic view of the university’s transformations and development path from its establishment in 1995 to its 25th anniversary in 2020, following nearly 5 years of research, interviews, data collection, analysis, synthesis, and systematic organization. The book brings to life the story of Professor Hu Jianbo and a group of education idealists reshaping the new form of an applied university. Through this book, readers will gain an understanding of the transformation initiatives launched by Xi'an Eurasia University under the guidance of a new path, uncovering the logic, theory, methods, and experiences worth savoring in detail by each reader. It also aims to provide broader insights and inspiration for education professionals.

02 The university held the fifth Education and Teaching Conference, focusing on cultivating a student-centered educational system and comprehensively enhancing the quality of applied talent cultivation.

From October 21 to 22, Xi'an Eurasia University held its fifth Education and Teaching Conference. The conference, themed "Focus on the Student-Centered Teaching Approach and Enhance the Quality of Applied Professionals Education," included a main forum, 6 themed sub-forums on business, humanities, engineering, vocational education, general education, and student development, as well as academic report meetings. The conference comprehensively summarized the university's experience in educational and teaching reforms and outlined the ideas for the next stage of teaching reforms. Professor Zhang Le Fang, the Vice President, summarized the university's experience and difficulties encountered in educational and teaching reforms over the past 7 years since the fourth Education and Teaching Conference. Based on the aspects of educational philosophy, educational goals, educational models, educational strategies, and quality assurance, she introduced the innovative ideas and measures that the university has taken to deepen educational and teaching reforms.

The university has always adhered to the "student-centered" direction in education and teaching reforms, aligning the offered disciplines and majors with the needs of industrial transformation. This has helped students achieve comprehensive value-added development in physical, mental, vocational, and social aspects, steadily improving their employment quality. Chairman Hu Jianbo pointed out that in the future, the university will adhere to the "student-centered" educational philosophy and implement an adaptive and comprehensive education quality concept while exploring the path of innovative development of private higher education institutions. The university will also integrate the design of various educational activities and continuously optimize the integrated education system of "admission, cultivation, and employment" and the coordinated education model of "colleges, communities, and associations". Furthermore, it will strive to create a management and resource support system that aligns with the "student-centered" concept, forming a resource support model that is affordable, sustainable, highly integrated, and effective.

03 Industry colleges with Fosun Tourism Group and for digital finance, digital security, urban renewal have been put into operation to innovate and build a new talent cultivation model and create a highland of deep school-enterprise integration and collaborative education.

In 2023, Xi'an Eurasia University continued to rely on modern industry colleges to innovate the talent cultivation model and build a highland of deep school-enterprise integration and collaborative education. Modern industry colleges with Fosun Tourism Group and for digital finance, digital security, and urban renewal have been established and put into operation. A dual-subject talent cultivation platform of "enterprises+ schools" has been built. Job skill courses are fully implanted in the curriculum system, scientific research achievements serve local social and economic development, a coherent internship path from schools to enterprises is opened up, and the school-enterprise cooperation mode of running schools moves towards a higher level.

On May 11, Fosun Tourism and Culture Industry College, co-built by the School of Business Administration and Fosun Tourism Group, was officially inaugurated. The School of Business Administration will focus on tourism management, exhibition economy and management, and sports economy and management, working with Fosun Tourism Group to improve the quality of discipline and major construction, innovate talent cultivation models and practical teaching environment, and build application-oriented faculty and high-quality internship and employment empowerment platforms. They will actively serve local social and economic development goals, build a broad platform for the cultivation of application-oriented undergraduate talents, and continuously contribute to the development of culture, sports, tourism, and exhibition industries.

On June 9, the School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, together with five top enterprises in the industry such as Glodon, China MCC22 Group, and CHC Navigation, jointly established the Urban Renewal Industry College. The college implements a "1+2+1" talent cultivation mode in three majors: real estate development and management, engineering management, and intelligent construction, focusing on three-dimensional reconstruction and simulation technology of architectural engineering, dynamic management system development of urban building information, and application of urban organic renewal information technology. It carries out extensive talent cultivation, scientific research, and practical exploration to improve students' practical application ability and employment competitiveness.

On November 22, the School of Finance and Data Science joined hands with outstanding enterprises such as Chang'an Futures Co., Ltd., CluBear, Xi'an Financial Holdings Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Xunfang Technology Co., Ltd., and Shaanxi Shuoke Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. to establish the Digital Finance Industry College. With finance as the core and economic statistics, data science, and big data technology as the support, it has formed a development feature of "major + data + industry" and helped research on the construction of financial ecological system and high-quality economic development under the background of digital finance.

On December 13, the Digital Security Industry College jointly established by the School of Information Engineering, Qi'anxin Technology Group Co., Ltd., Beijing Netpower Information Technology Co., Ltd., and other industry leaders was officially inaugurated. Taking serving the development of local industries as its foundation, based on network security application research, and facing the digital security needs of large enterprises, the college builds a security protection system covering network and system security, code and information security, and IoT security from bottom to top applications of the network and cultivates high-level applied network security talent with international vision and innovation consciousness.

04 The university continues to promote the "student-centered" curriculum reform and has made many achievements in the construction of application-oriented courses.

In recent years, Xi'an Eurasia University has redefined the "student-centered" curriculum by focusing on the quality strategy of "application-oriented, internationalization, and new experience", committed to improving students' learning experience and effectiveness and emphasizing the utility, practicality, and application of the curriculum. In 2023, the university has made many achievements in the construction of application-oriented courses.

On May 30, the Ministry of Education announced the accreditation results of the second batch of first-class undergraduate courses. The course "Writing and Expression" led by Lu Zhuoyuan from the School of General Education was recognized as a national online and offline mixed first-class course, which marks a breakthrough in school education and teaching reform in recent years in terms of national honors and new progress made in school curriculum reform exploration over the years.

In addition, the course case "Exploration and Practice of Emerging Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Curriculum System in Colleges and Universities Based on Innovative Design Thinking" written by Du Xiaochun from the School of Information Engineering and the course case "Practice and Innovation of Online and Offline Mixed First-class Course Construction Based on OBE Concept-Taking Writing and Expression as an Example" written by Lu Zhuoyuan from the School of General Education were selected as 10-year MOOC typical cases of Joint Council of Online Open Courses Alliance of Colleges in 2023. Ma Wenna, a teacher of the School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, won the "Individual Award for 2022 Application-oriented Curriculum Reform and Innovation" by the Application-oriented Curriculum Alliance of the National Center for Schooling Development Programme under the Ministry of Education.

In 2023, the university made great efforts to promote the reform of ideological and political education and teaching in curricula, deeply explored the elements and functions of ideological and political education in curricula, actively explored the organic integration of educational content with professional knowledge and skill education content, and cultivated students to enhance their sense of social responsibility. The course "Intelligent Hardware" led by Shen Ruibing, a teacher from the School of Information Engineering, and his team were recognized as the second batch of ideological and political demonstration courses and teaching teams in Shaanxi Province. Ten courses, including Intelligent Hardware, Building Architecture, Chinese and Foreign Education History and Philosophy of Education, and Tourism Network Marketing, have been launched on xhsz.news.cn. Teaching resources such as teaching design, teaching videos, teaching courseware, and lecture videos are open and shared to the whole society.

05 Students made breakthroughs in the 11th Future Designer · National College Digital Art & Design Awards, College Basketball League in Shaanxi Province, and other discipline and sports competitions.

In 2023, students of Xi'an Eurasia University performed well in various discipline competitions and sports competitions, making historic breakthroughs in a number of competitions and demonstrating their enterprising, knowledge-seeking, and innovative spirit:

In 2023, the athletes of Xi'an Eurasia University won gold and silver medals in many events: Its men's basketball team won the second-level league championship of College Basketball League in Shaanxi Province and CUBAL preliminaries in 2022 and 2023. The men's football team of Xi'an Eurasia University won the champion of level 3 matches in Shaanxi Provincial College Football League; Chen Rui from the School of Higher Vocational Education won the championship of Group B of sports models in women's group of college students at the 2023 China College Student Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship & World Youth Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship Trials; the cheerleading club won the championships of the College Student Aerobics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Cheerleading Dance, and Street Dance Championships in Shaanxi Province; the table tennis team won the championships of Men's Singles, Men's Doubles, and Men's Team in the 27th Shaanxi College Table Tennis Championships; the rope skipping team won five championships in the 2023 Shaanxi Student Rope Skipping Competition.

In terms of professional discipline competitions, teachers and students from Xi'an Eurasia University have also won the first prize or gold medal in many events such as the 11th Future Designer · National College Digital Art & Design Awards, 2023 China International Landscape Architecture Planning & Design Competition, the 11th National Digital Media Technology Works and Creative Contest for Undergraduates, the 2nd National College Students Original Hand-drawn Sketch Design Competition, the 25th China Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Competition, the National Mathematical Contest for Undergraduates, the 5th National Hybrid Teaching Design Innovation Competition for Colleges and Universities, the Academy Award of China College Students Advertising Art Festival, the 12th "Huawen" Preschool Education Teachers Skills Test and Exchange Exhibition Activity, and the 6th China Vocational Education Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

06 Xi'an Eurasia University further promoted internationalization at home and accelerated the process of international education.

In 2023, Xi'an Eurasia University adhered to the concept of "open education", deepened the development strategy of "local internationalization", guided the implementation of international work with "tree planting thinking" and "coffee mode", gradually expanded the scale of Chinese-foreign cooperation in running schools, continuously improved the teaching quality of international projects and students' learning effectiveness, created brand programs of "local internationalization", and promoted the connotative development of "local internationalization".

From April 24 to May 9, President Liu Jin, Vice President Sun Jianrong, and Director Ding Jie of the International Cooperation and Exchange Center went on a two-week visit to five universities in the United States and Canada by invitation, including Wayne State University, Ball State University, and Middle Tennessee State University in the United States and St. Lawrence College and Algonquin College in Canada. They had fruitful discussions on enhancing international cooperation and building a platform for broader and deeper academic and cultural exchange and reached a number of cooperation intentions.

In 2023, Xi'an Eurasia University won the honor of "ACCA Gold Level Education Institution" for three consecutive years. Liu Fang, Marketing Manager of North China Region of ACCA BEIJING OFFICE, said that Xi'an Eurasia University's ability to acquire the ACCA Gold Level Certification for three consecutive years proves that the university and school leaders at all level attach great importance to the ACCA program, as well as its excellent performance and strict management in ACCA education. In the future, Xi'an Eurasia University will continue to consolidate the connotation of international business education and make unremitting efforts to become China's most influential application-oriented business university and cultivate high-level business talent with a global vision.

07 Xi'an Eurasia University has consistently ranked first in Cuaa.net's list of Chinese private universities in the field of finance and economics for 10 consecutive years. Its high-quality education in business disciplines has been widely recognized by society.

On April 6, 2023, the domestic third-party university evaluation agency, Cuaa.net, officially released the Chinese Universities Alumni Association's 2023 Chinese Universities Ranking—Guide for Filling Applications for the College Entrance Examinations. With its high-quality education, Xi'an Eurasia University ranked first in the third tier of the Cuaa.net's 2023 China's Private Universities Ranking and has held the top spot in the "Ranking of China's Private Universities for Finance and Economics" for 10 consecutive years.

(Fig. 12) Chinese Universities Alumni Association's 2023 China's Private Universities for Finance and Economics Ranking (partial list)

Among Xi'an Eurasia University's 15 business majors, 5 majors including accounting, finance, e-commerce, financial management, and business administration are first-class undergraduate majors in Shaanxi Province and the tourism management major has been certified by the United Nations World Tourism Organization for the quality of tourism education. Also, its CFA International Class in Finance and ACCA Class in Accounting provide students with a diversified growth path that features the model of "further studies both at home and abroad + international certificates + employment in top-tier companies at home and abroad". The university has established in-depth cooperation with well-known corporations, like China Merchants Bank, Golden Education, Merit Data, Kingdee, Inspur, and SW International (ShineWing), and other universities, working with them to develop professional courses and provide high-quality practical training, internship, and employment opportunities for students, and cultivate high-quality applied talent adaptable to the developing modern business society. The School of Business Administration builds interdisciplinary teams to solve real social problems in the form of "course + program". The "+ business" and "business +" programs deepen the integration of disciplines and open up a new path for cultivating high-quality application-oriented talent.

08 Xi'an Eurasia University held a series of academic forums and cultural exhibitions, with industrial and social influence continuing to increase.

In 2023, the university hosted or undertaken a number of academic forums around topics such as digital economy and China-style management, international innovation in art and technology, construction and development of general writing courses and talent cultivation for applied universities, and digital transformation of new business practice teaching to continuously enhance academic influence in multi-disciplinary fields:

From April 6 to 7, at Wendao Management Forum (2nd) and Seminar on Organizational Theory and Organizational Innovation and Development, experts and scholars from many parts of China discussed the impact and challenges of digital economy on China's management, as well as the characteristics and advantages of China-style management, and put forward innovative ideas and strategies for management in the era of digital economy.

From July 7 to 8, the International Innovation Forum for Art and Technology focused on topics such as cross-border expansion of art design, challenges and opportunities brought by artificial intelligence to art design education, internationalization of teaching system and curriculum construction of art design major in application-oriented colleges and universities, school-enterprise cooperation, and social services.

On November 18, Xi'an Eurasia University invited general writing managers, teachers, and research scholars from more than 40 universities in China to the first Applied University General Writing Forum with the theme "Ability to Think and Write" to conduct intensive discussions and exchanges on issues such as the reform and challenges of general writing teaching in applied universities.

On December 9, at the West China New Business Practice Teaching Digital Transformation Forum, experts and scholars from various parts of the country delved into the impact of digital transformation on business education and relevant challenges, shared experimental teaching models adapted for the digital economy era, and proposed new thinking on the practice of industry-education integration in business education under the context of "Digital for Green and Green for Digital."

In 2023, Xi'an Eurasia University also actively practiced the concept of "culture education" by launching a variety of exhibition activities inside and outside the university, such as the Year of the Rabbit Zodiac Theme Design Exhibition, Niklaus Troxler Visual Art Exhibition, Goldstein Brothers Book Design Exhibition, 2023 Joint Exhibition of Xi'an College Graduation Works, 100 Words Theme Exhibition of Chinese and Western General Education, which not only bring high-quality campus cultural life experience to teachers and students, but also continuously contribute new humanistic landscapes to the city of Xi'an. Xi'an Eurasia University has more distinctive local cultural landmarks.

09 The Conference for the Establishment of Private University Campus Management Branch under China Association for Campus Management and the Forum on Innovation and Development of Private University Campus Management were held in the university.

On May 29, the Conference for the Establishment of Private University Campus Management Branch under China Association for Campus Management and the Forum on Innovation and Development of Private University Campus Management were held at Xi'an Eurasia University. The Branch aims to further integrate the campus management resources of private universities, enhance the cohesion of campus managers in private universities, build a platform for communication and resource sharing among private universities, and improve the overall level of campus management in private universities.

At the conference, Zhang Junhong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of Xi'an Eurasia University, was elected Deputy President of the first council of the branch. Ren Longgang, General Manager of Xi'an Eurasia University Campus Management Group, was elected Secretary-General of the first council. The secretariat of the branch's permanent office is located at Xi'an Eurasia University.

10 The university continues to transform the education and teaching space on campus to create a high-quality educational environment.

In 2023, Xi'an Eurasia University continued to build and update the campus teaching and living environment, create a high-quality education field, and promote the balance of the overall campus environment.

At the end of June, the Student Service Center in West Campus was officially topped out and has now entered the decoration stage. In December, the informal learning space of North Buildings C and D was renovated, offering a new public space for leisure and study to students. The successive renovation of the library's central garden, roller skating square, maze garden, and other landscape cultural and sports facilities has further enriched the level of campus landscape, provided multiple creative spaces for integration and interconnection between teaching and life, and improved the happiness and experience of teachers and students in them.

Benefiting from Xi'an Eurasia University's high-quality pursuit of campus space environment construction, at the 2022-2023 Award Ceremony of Asian Educational Environmental Design Awards (the only regional award for educational environment design in Asia) held on June 16, 2023, North Campus Teaching Building E of the university won the "Learning Space Design Gold Award", Hongqiao Garden won the "Campus Landscape Design Gold Award", South Campus Design and Media Experimental Center won the "Learning Space Design Silver Award", and Hongqiao Learning Center won the "Learning Space Design Silver Award".

(Contributed by Li Xiaofei from Brand Communication Department)