Interview: Exploring new opportunities in China: Houston college chief

HOUSTON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Cesar Maldonado feels as if it were yesterday when he flew to China in 1993 on a business trip as CEO of a steel manufacturing company. Lush fields lined the then-new, lone highway to Macau, interspersed with occasional buildings, and there was very little traffic on the roadway.

Today, as the chancellor of Houston Community College (HCC), Maldonado said he looked forward to seeing China's immense progress since his last visit.

"I remember that new highway to Macau with three lanes each direction and hardly any cars on it," he said in an recent interview with Xinhua. "About every 50 kilometers, you'd see a cluster of high-rise buildings and then there would be nothing, only farm land."

China's empty farm lands have all but disappeared, replaced by modern metropolises leading the way into the 21st century. Shenzhen, a coastal city in the Southern Chinese Guangdong province, has grown from a small fishing village into one of the most vibrant cities in China and home to many high-tech industries.

The tranquil fields have given way to new high-rise buildings, manufacturing facilities and high-tech industries, which also means opportunities for new market and partnership.

Maldonado will join Houston Trade and Investment Mission to visit China on Dec. 2. During the eight-day tour, the delegation will visit Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen to meet with high-level government officials, business leaders and industry counterparts to broaden cultural understanding and explore opportunities for trade and professional partnerships.

For HCC, the trip to China is an opportunity to share educational expertise and to partner with Chinese educators.

"Houston Community College has had a strong partnership with the international community for decades," Maldonado told Xinhua. "We're No. 1 in the country for international students' enrollment in community colleges. We currently have about 400 Chinese students."

Given that international students make up about nine percent of student body in HCC, the China trip is an excellent opportunity to solidify the U.S.-China relationship on an academic and workforce level, Maldonado said.

"We're looking forward to meeting with the leadership in China to discuss how we can partner to move students through Houston Community College from China," he said.

The chancellor said he wants to facilitate more Chinese students coming to the college for academic and vocational pursuits in various areas including technical fields such as information technology, cybersecurity, healthcare and automotive technology.

HCC is closely aligned with business and industry, providing a gateway for students moving from high school into careers and universities. The college's faculty includes instructors who teach at universities and many of its curricula are developed with experts from industries.

According to the chancellor, in the vocational education, some condensed programs teach incumbent workers new skills in six to eight weeks so they can move to a different career. "We are very focused on the application of the new technologies across all industries."

Meanwhile, Maldonado said he'd like to develop student exchange programs that may help move students in Houston on their way to careers and universities in China.

He also noted lifelong learning as a motto for the college. "We continue to go to colleges to learn about the new things going on in all of our jobs and industries. In that way, we are able to fill the needs of industry in a more robust way," he said, adding "I hope this trip will produce opportunities for such dialogues between HCC and our Chinese counterparts."

HCC, a system of six colleges including 22 campuses and centers, delivers instruction to about 57,000 credit students each semester. Today, the community college serves more than 114,000 students annually within a service area over 1,632 square kilometers. HCC student population represents 155 countries.

Maldonado attributed much of the college's success to its agreements and partnerships with four-year universities, which facilitate college students to transfer to these institutions with college-earned credits, ultimately leading to baccalaureate degrees from the universities.

In a joint statement released in September in Washington after the first China-U.S. social and people-to-people dialogue, both countries vowed to further promote two-way overseas study and enhance bilateral exchanges among educational institutions and scholars, new moves to increase mutual understanding and promote bilateral people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries have taken part in the Path Pro Project, sponsored by China Education Association for International Exchange. In late October, representatives from about 20 Chinese Path Pro program institutions and senior representatives from seven American universities and community colleges took part in a seminar in Beijing.

The project has already yielded positive results, as more American institutions of higher education partner with their Chinese counterparts. Maldonado said he will be glad if HCC can join the project.

As Houston's second largest international trade partner, China shares extensive business, trade and cultural ties with the Houston region. Total annual trade between Houston and China has seen strong and sustained growth, doubling to 18.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 from 9.1 billion dollars in 2010, according to data from the Houston Mayor's Office. Enditem