On the afternoon of April 20th South Africa time, Professor Zhou Yingjia, General Secretary of the Party Committee of Hubei University of Technology, led a group to visit the Free State Province of the Republic of South Africa. Mr. Ace Magashule, the governor of the province met with them in Bloemfontein. Pule Herbert Isak Makgoe, Director of the Free State Provincial Department of Education, attended the meeting with the delegation from the School of International Education of HBUT.
Governor Magashule extended a warm welcome to Prof. Zhou, briefed him on the economic and educational development of the province, and gave a detailed account of our delegation's visit to the Central University of Technology (CUT). He hoped that there would be a close relationship and cooperation between HBUT and CUT. Governor Magashule said that the provincial government would strongly support cooperation with Hubei University of Technology in teaching and research to jointly train high-quality international talents to meet the social and economic development of the two countries.
Prof. Zhou presented the international development strategy of HBUT and discussed the status of the 38 students in our university who came from Free State. Mr. Magashule praised what HBUT has done for international education and was pleased to accept our university's flag and mark, presented by Mr. Zhou; he hopes to visit Hubei University of Technology one day.
After the meeting, Prof. Zhou; Mr. Ye Chaocheng, the dean of the School of International Education; and Mr. Huang Yongjun, vice dean of the School of International Education, accompanied by the staff of that department, conducted a home visit to 2 students named Taole Kamohelo and Tlale Baesi Thulaganyo, studying in HBUT. South Africa's Free State Television reported on the procedings.
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Free State (province), located in central South Africa to the Wahl River in the north and the Orange River in the south with an area of about 129,500 square kilometers accounting for 10.6% of the whole country's land area, is the third largest province in South Africa, of which the population is about 2.8 million, representing 6.4% of the whole country. The province has 5 administrative districts and 20 regional cities. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital.
The rich soil and pleasant climate allow for thriving agriculture, and the area is also know for mining, petrochemical industry, jewelry processing, and more. Since the 1990s, the economy has been changed from an agriculture and mining orientation to one of manufacturing and export. Some 14% of the province's manufacturing is classified as being in high-technology industries – the highest of all provincial economies of South Africa.
