Education as a bridge between China and the UK

From Jan 28 to 31, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited China, with education and scientific exchange featuring prominently on the bilateral agenda. China and the UK share a long history of academic cooperation, shaped by Britain's tradition of research-led education and China's rise as a global center for science and innovation. At a time of global uncertainty, such exchanges remain an important channel for dialogue and mutual understanding.

Against this backdrop, the author reflects on his own experience of China-UK education. In December 2025, he received the Study UK Alumni Awards 2026 — an honor that, for him, represents the enduring value of cross-border education and academic cooperation.

I grew up in Hubei in a family of teachers, which gave me an early awareness that knowledge grows strongest when ideas travel. That awareness would later take me far beyond my hometown.

From there, I set out for doctoral training in the United Kingdom, followed by research in the United States, and eventually returned to China to work as a university professor in Earth and space sciences.

This journey was not a simple academic trajectory. Rather, it was a process of learning how different cultures, traditions, and education systems can complement one another, and how their combined strengths can serve both national needs and global challenges.

For me, the combination of UK and Chinese education has been a win-win experience.

During my doctoral studies at Durham University, I learned that asking the right question is often more important than finding an immediate answer. I was encouraged to challenge conventional wisdom in geology by questioning a long-established view — that mineralization is a continuous and long-lasting process. Thinking across disciplinary boundaries, I began to suspect that this assumption might not be correct.

I remember discussing this with my supervisor, Dave Selby, concerned that such a challenge might invite criticism. Instead, Dave encouraged me to pursue the idea further and posed a simple but transformative question: how could it be tested?

That conversation later developed into what is now known as the "rapid and pulsed mineralization model". This model offers a new way of understanding how giant mineral deposits form and is now widely accepted.

My return to China also allowed me to fully appreciate the strengths of Chinese education. With sustained investment from government, society, and industry, Chinese universities provide an environment in which young scientists are encouraged to align personal ambition with national needs — a foundation that has been essential to China's development in the new era.

In my current role at Peking University, undergraduate students in their second and third years are actively involved in our research and contribute in ways that reflect their individual strengths. One example is their participation in studies based on the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon, brought back by China's Chang'e 6 mission.

Our findings show that the lunar far-side mantle is significantly cooler than the near side, offering key insights into the longstanding question of lunar asymmetry and receiving international recognition and collaboration.

These achievements reflect a new era of two-way educational flow, in which knowledge, talent, and ideas circulate for mutual benefit. In this context, my Study UK Alumni Award is more than a personal honor. It is a reminder of how sustained academic training, open intellectual environments, and cross-border collaboration can help nurture talent that contributes meaningfully to science, education, and society.

In an age marked by rapid change, education remains one of the most enduring bridges between nations. My own experience offers a modest but clear illustration of how education can connect individuals, strengthen institutions, and help shape a shared future defined by cooperation rather than division.

As a university teacher, I feel a responsibility to pass this perspective on to my students. Many of them will study abroad, engage in international collaboration, or work at the interface of science, industry, and policy. I encourage them to see the world not in terms of borders, but through shared challenges and opportunities.

Looking ahead, I hope to continue strengthening collaboration between China and the UK, while also expanding broader international partnerships, and to help train the next generation to be confident in their roots and open to the world.

Written by Li Yang, associate professor at the School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University; also affiliated with the London Geochronology Centre, University College London; and recipient of the Study UK Alumni Awards 2026, Science and Sustainability Award.