Representatives from Queen’s, partner organizations and the Chinese embassy recently gathered at the Donald Gordon Conference Centre to celebrate the six officials from the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) who completed a six-month internship program.

The annual program, a partnership between Queen’s and the MLR, sees a group of staff from the ministry spend between three and six months in a Canadian public or private organization, working as an intern in the field of land and resource management.

“Queen’s University is proud of its collaborative role in supporting the academic component of the internship program, which enables an exchange of ideas and practices, and shared learning between interns and their host organizations,” says Cynthia Fekken, Associate Vice-Principal (Research), who was on hand to present certificates of completion to the interns.

The partnership has been in place since 1995, an initiative of Hok-Lin Leung, professor emeritus and former director of the School of Urban and Regional Planning. Queen’s and the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources recently extended this partnership with the signing of a memorandum of understanding last summer.

The Queen’s-MLR partnership also includes an internship for Queen’s student in China and a program that sees up to 50 MLR staff members and mining professionals attend a three-week training program run jointly by the Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering and the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining.

The partnership between Queen’s and the MLR is one of many that the university has developed with partners in China. Highlights include a recently established Master of Finance program with Renmin University, a semester abroad program with Fudan University, as well as a 2+2 degree program and environment research network with Tongji University. China is a priority region in Queen’s efforts to enhance its international reach.