SERDANG, January 8 – UPM is honoured to welcome the delegation from the Sports Bureau of Zhejiang Province, China for a courtesy visit. The delegation was led by Mr. Zheng Yao, The Director of the Sports Bureau of Zhejiang Province. Representatives from Zhejiang College of Sports, Lishui Sports Development Service Centre, and the Group of Jinhua Municipal Bureau of Sports also joined the delegation.

The delegation was welcomed by Prof. Dr. Ismi Arif Ismail, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International), together with the representatives from the Faculty of Educational Studies and PUTRA International Centre (i-PUTRA). The visit aimed to strengthen exchanges in the field of sports between UPM and the Sports Bureau of Zhejiang Province. Also, the visit provided both parties the opportunity to discuss the possibility of collaborating on athlete and coaching development.

Zhejiang Province has produced many talented and internationally reputed athletes. During the discussion, Mr. Zheng Yao took the opportunity to share with us some of the achievements of the athletes. During the Tokyo Olympics 2020, seven (7) gold medals were contributed by athletes of Zhejiang Province. Not only that, in the 19^th Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou, athletes from Zhejiang Province contributed a huge number of gold medals during the second-largest sports event in the world.

Mr. Meng Guangjiang, Dean of Zhejiang College of Sports also took the opportunity to introduce the college and what it offers. The Dean himself was once an Olympian and also a gold medallist in Kayak. Zhejiang College of Sports with "Gold Medal Culture" as the core, offers two (2) courses which are competitive sports and physical education. During the meeting, they mentioned championing athletes' development and intending to collaborate in the physical education programme.

The visit concluded at 5.15 p.m. with a positive note from both sides. They expressed mutual interest in further exploring potential collaboration in sports studies. It is hoped that it will foster fruitful cooperation between the two entities.