South and Southeast Asian University Network

The South and Southeast Asian University Network, also known as SSE ASIAN UN, is a higher education regional international cooperation mechanism approved by the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education and filed in the International Division of the Ministry of Education, and initiated by Yunnan University in Kunming, Yunnan province in December 2018. The secretariat of SSE ASIAN UN is permanently located at YNU.

It aims to further enhance the humanities exchanges and people-to-people bonds between China and South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, establish a platform for regional higher education exchanges and cooperation, as well as build a regional higher education community.

To date, more than 120 Chinese and foreign universities have participated in the activities of SSE ASIAN UN, including 75 South and Southeast Asian universities from countries like Pakistan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

After two years of development, SSE ASIAN UN have become an important platform for cultural exchanges in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as an important boost to the construction of the Radiation Center of Yunnan province, with its influence being initially demonstrated.

At present, SSE ASIAN UN have created four major brand activities, including the SSE ASIAN UN Forum sponsored by the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education, the Yunnan Conference on International Exchange of Professionals sponsored by the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee and the Yunnan Provincial People’s Government, the SSE ASIAN UN Sports Culture Exchange Week, as well as the consultation mechanism of the university alliance, the first consultation mechanism and platform of China’s university alliances.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic, SSE ASIAN UN has promoted communication between teachers and students of Chinese and foreign universities, achieving remarkable results.

It drafted and published the Joint Statement of the South & Southeast Asian University Network on Joint Efforts in Countering COVID-19, which was signed by 60 universities from 12 countries. This is the first time that Asian universities have jointly spoken out on the epidemic.

SSE ASIAN UN has successively convened three international seminars to promote mutual learning among universities, further improved the campus epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic levels, as well as provided intellectual support for regional cooperation in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

Moreover, SSE ASIAN UN has launched a short video/article solicitation activity for the teachers and students of member universities. Stories and short videos shared by teachers and students from India, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, and other countries were reposted in China Daily, as well as posted on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts.

In the future, SSE ASIAN UN will implement the Four-Year Development Plan for the South Asia and Southeast Asia University Network (2020-2023), gradually move from the foundation stage to the stage of improving quality and efficiency, as well as further promote the people-to-people bond and policy communication between China and South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, enhancing Belt and Road cooperation.