With the aim of materialising the relationships between UCAM and the University Sport University, an agreement between both institutions has been signed at the Campus of Los Jerónimos. This will allow the students of this Chinese university to spend one semester studying Spanish language and literature on the UCAM campus, as a supplement to their Bachelor's Degree studies. This is the first action included in the agreement, which will be extended with more initiatives.

Prior to this event, Chinese and UCAM delegations have arrived at the Palacio de San Esteban, the seat of the Regional Government. They were received by the President of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, who has very positively appreciated that ‘the link between Shandong and the Region of Murcia is UCAM, one of the main institutions of our Region, and which we fully support. This adds a lot of value and makes this friendship become stronger and last longer, also considering the support shown by the Spanish Olympic Committee. All this shows that we will be able to start a fruitful relationship that will be enhanced and spread to different sectors, like culture, agriculture and tourism’. 

Along those lines, Bai Yugang, head of the Chinese delegation, Provincial Minister of Shandong for Education, Tourism, Culture and Mass Media, has affirmed that this cooperation between Shandong and UCAM ‘represents the first project that we have started after the pandemic’, adding that ‘we have very promising prospects regarding this cooperation, since we highly appreciate the Region of Murcia for its culture, its technology and UCAM, and our market consists of more than 100 million people’.

At Los Jerónimos, the document was signed by María Dolores García, UCAM president, and Wang Yi, dean of the Chinese National Academy for Football and Basketball and representative of the University of Sports of Shandong. This has been supported by other members of the presidential table, Bai Yugang; Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee; José Luis Mendoza García, general director of institutional relations at UCAM; and Juan María Vázquez, councillor for the Environment, Mar Menor, Universities and Research of the Region of Murcia. The event was attended by a large number of academic and institutional representatives of UCAM and all the members of the Chinese delegation.

Both universities have been working hand in hand for five years on different sports training programmes along with the Chinese National Academy for Football and Basketball, whose head offices are located in Shandong, and which are now being expanded thanks to these agreements. During their visit, the delegation of the Chinese university has been supported by a wide delegation of the Government of Shandong, of representatives of the Conficius Institute, which defends the legacy of this element of the Chinese culture, and of the Publishing Group of Shandong, which has donated some books to the University.

With regard to this agreement, the UCAM president has affirmed that ‘all the areas of the university benefit from this important agreement, which creates a gateway to the Region of Shandong, with which we share many elements. Furthermote,  it is a starting point for cooperating in many other areas’. To this respect, the dean of the Chinese National Academy for Football and Basketball and representative of the University of Sports of Shandong has expressed that ‘we hope that UCAM and the Region of Murcia will be able to cooperate more with Shandong to build a better future’.

Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, with whom UCAM has a very fruitful alliance for training and supporting athletes, has participated in this event, where he has highlighted the good relationships between Spanish and Chinese Olympic committees and, regarding the agreement. He has pointed out that ‘we are at a university that has obtained some of the best results in the Olympic Games ever and where, despite the language and distance, values like education, distinction, hard work, loyalty and respect are shared’. For this reason, ‘with our shared projects, not only will sports in both countries benefit, but society in general aslo, which is what truly matters’.

The councillor for the Environment, Mar Menor, Universities and Research of the Region of Murcia, Juan María Vázquez, has affirmed that ‘Our Government would like to thank UCAM for opening this door, as it will strengthen the relationship between both universities and it will create more opportunities for the Murcian society’. Likewise, José Luis Mendoza García, general director of Institutional Relations at UCAM, has highlighted ‘the values, the respect and the fraternity shared by both institutions’, emphasizing the great amount of knowledge existing in both cultures, with numerous references to Confucius and Cervantes.