Xu Yafen ( zh, s=徐亚芬, hp=Xú Yàfēn) is a

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) politician and

university administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...

. She is a member of the 11th CCP Conference of

Zhejiang Province ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

and chair of the board of the

University of Nottingham Ningbo China The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) is a Sino-foreign cooperative university in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. It was established in 2004 by a partnership between the University of Nottingham and Zhejiang Wanli University. The universit ...

, a partnership with the British

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, and chair of the Chinese

Zhejiang Wanli University Zhejiang Wanli University (), formerly the Ningbo Branch of Zhejiang Agricultural University (), is a private college in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. The college is operated by the private Zhejiang Wanli Education Group Company. According to the 2 ...

. Xu is also a visiting professor at

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

and a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the Human Science Institute of the Chinese Academy of Management Science. In 2017 she was honoured by the University of Nottingham, who named a building at their

Jubilee Campus The University of Nottingham operates from four campuses in Nottinghamshire and from two overseas campuses, one in Ningbo, China and the other in Semenyih, Malaysia. The Ningbo campus was officially opened on 23 February 2005 by the then British ...

after her.

Biography

Xu joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1981. She is a representative to the 11th CCP Conference of

and a member of its Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Xu is a visiting professor at

and a research fellow at the Human Science Institute of the Chinese Academy of Management Science. She has published academic papers in the fields of psychology, behaviour science, management and education. She has been awarded an honorary degree by the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

. Xu founded the

Wanli Education Group Zhejiang Wanli Education Group (浙江省万里教育集团) is a private company located in the city of Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. About In June 1993, Zhejiang Wanli Education Group took over an engineer school on the verge of bankruptcy and estab ...

(WEG) which contributed to reform of education in China and partnered with the British

to establish a British-style campus in China. The

(UNNC) was established in 2004 with £200 million of Chinese funding. A campus was constructed within eight months after which dozens of British staff were teaching courses to Chinese students in British-style small classes, using British textbooks. The project was part of a plan to keep Chinese students in the country and to retain their tuition fee spend. Xu stated that "we don't have to lose our best young people for them to get a famous degree and it has immeasurable advantages to our economy". Degrees from UNNC are awarded by the University of Nottingham, which remains in partnership with Xu's WEG. Xu is chair of the UNNC board as well as of the

. UNNC grew from 1,000 students at its foundation to more than 7,500 by 2017, by which time Xu said it had become a household brand in Eastern China. In 2017 Xu visited the University of Nottingham's British campuses, and on 4 September was honoured by the naming of a building after her at the university's

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Yafen 21st-century Chinese politicians Living people People associated with the University of Nottingham Academic staff of Tsinghua University Chinese Communist Party politicians Year of birth missing (living people)