Chinese and Israeli colleges to exchange students for agricultural studies

Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Israel's Hebrew University of Jerusalem have signed a student exchange agreement focused on agricultural studies.

Jiao Tong University's deputy President, Wu Dan, says it's part of the school's attempt to create stronger ties with leading universities around the world.

"We all know that Israel leads the world in agricultural technologies. They've also made achievements in energy conservation and resource efficiency. We are very happy to cooperate with such a University."

Shanghai Jiao Tong University delegation visit a greenhouse at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, on May 17, 2017. [Photo: China Plus/Sun Lingli]

Hebrew University’s deputy President, Oron Shagrir, says creating links with Jiao Tong makes sense for them.

"Well, it's one of the best universities in China and one of the top universities in the world. So, we are very interested in expanding our collaboration in China and in Shanghai area. We found Jiao Tong to be a university very similar to us in the sense that it is very comprehensive. So, we visited them several times and we now have partnership in different fields. And we very much hope that we will be strategic partners."

The agreement comes after the two universities signed a memorandum on cooperation in Shanghai last year.

Since 2012, the two have carried out cooperation in several areas, including public affairs, economies, medicine and management studies.