On 28 September 2020, the opening ceremony of the Chongqing Credit Bank for Lifelong Learning, and a seminar on its construction, was held at the Chongqing branch of the Open University of China (OUC).

Hu Bin, an inspector with the Chongqing Municipal Education Commission, and Li Linshu, OUC vice president, attended the ceremony. Leaders from 64 universities in Chongqing, and personnel in charge of the Credit Banks in Jiangsu, Sichuan and Chengdu, also attended.

At the ceremony, Guo Qing, Party secretary of the Chongqing Branch, said in his speech that the construction of the Credit Bank would give new impetus not only to the development of higher education but to the education system in Chongqing as a whole, marking a breakthrough in the development of lifelong learning there. Since its establishment 41 years ago, the Chongqing Branch, focusing on being "learner-centric” and locally engaged, has served economic and social development at the neighbourhood level in Chongqing, and helped support and popularise continuing education there. The launch also marks a new stage of development of the Credit Bank in the city, and the Chongqing Branch will join other stakeholders (companies, educational institutions, and so on) in Chongqing to promote its construction.

Li Linshu pointed out at the ceremony that the construction of the Credit Bank supports lifelong learning and personal development for everyone, helping not just individuals but society as a whole. However, at this point its construction still faces many obstacles, and the stakeholders must communicate and cooperate more effectively in order to promote it.

Hu Bin introduced the Credit Bank and delivered a speech, pointing out that it is important for promoting the modernisation of the education system in Chongqing, serving economic and social development through lifelong learning, and as a way to verify and transfer credits. He too called for stakeholders to strengthen their cooperation as they work to build the Credit Bank, and accelerate the construction of continuing education in Chongqing so as to meet the diverse learning needs of its citizens, and allow all of them to benefit from reform and development. He finished with three suggestions for the development of the Credit Bank: to keep pace with the times and develop through innovation; to value openness, inclusiveness and mutual respect; and to pursue pragmatic and mutually beneficial collaborations.

At the keynote session of the seminar on construction of the Credit Bank, Huang Jian, professor at East China Normal University, Yan Xiaoping, executive deputy-director of the OUC Credit Bank, Jiang Tao, vice president of the Chongqing Branch, and Zhang Weiyuan, dean of the Institute for Research into Applications of Big Data at the Chongqing Branch, delivered reports respectively titled “Construction of the National Credit Bank for Vocational Education”, “A Learning City and the Credit Bank”, “Progress on the Construction of the Credit Bank for Lifelong Learning in Chongqing”, and “Construction and Development of a National Qualifications Framework in China”.

The seminar has strengthened the consensus on the development of the Credit Bank, the value of lifelong learning, and the vision of constructing an education system to support it in Chongqing via the cooperation of all stakeholders in establishing the Credit Bank.

By Chongqing Branch