By Zhang Ye

On 6th July, ‘YES·China－Singapore Youth Interns Exchange Scheme’ organized by ‘Business China’ Singapore and Nantong Stalford International School together was held in Nantong for the first time.

‘Nantong is very beautiful and modern. I hope that with our joint efforts, China－Singapore Youth Interns Exchange Scheme can be implemented perfectly and achieve expected results, and become a model of friendly exchanges between our countries.’ Ronnie, Representative of Singapore and the director of Nantong Stalford International School said in his speech.

‘I am mainly responsible for promoting exchanges between youths in Singapore and China in all aspects and fields.’ Professor Feng Yaohua from ‘Business China’ introduced that ‘Business China’ was founded in November 2007. It works on enhancing Singaporeans’ understanding of China, and exchanges and cooperation between youths of both countries especially university students, to promote the friendly relationship of the two countries. He said, ‘at present most Singaporean students who do internship in China are in areas like Jiangsu and Zhejiang. We expect more students from both countries can participate in internship exchange.’

In 2019, China and Singapore signed the Memo of Bilateral Youth Internship and Exchange Program (YES). China－Singapore Youth Interns Exchange Scheme is led by Ministry of Education of Singapore and implemented by ‘Business China’. It is the first bilateral internship exchange program signed between Singapore and other countries. Under the program, every year, more than 500 youths from Singapore and China will have chances to obtain internship experiences in the other country, to know the economy and rich culture of the other country better, and establish new friendships and connections. The scheme was started in Suzhou in July 2023.

‘We wish to build bridges for internship exchanges between students from China and Singapore,’ Yang Zhichong, the headmaster of Nantong Stalford International School introduced the original intention of the scheme. The school was founded by Stalford Education Group from Singapore in 2015. It is the first Cambridge International School in Nantong. It is also an exam center accredited by Cambridge Assessment International Education from Britain, and an international school accredited by International Baccalaureate Organization. The school provides international classes for children of foreigners who work in Nantong. It has ‘2+1.5’ direct classes to National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University and elite teacher class for junior high school, which provides opportunities to be admitted to multiple international elite universities for students. It also solved the worries of foreigners who work or do business in Nantong.