As invited by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, President of Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau (KWNC) Van Iat Kio and Deputy Chief of the Department of Education and Culture of the Central People's Government Liaison Office in Macao Guo Jian Bin led a delegation of over 20 KWNC teaching staff and students to Anhui for a five-day academic and cultural exchange trip. The delegation was given a warm welcome by the leaders of the Education Department of Anhui Province and other organizations, including Deputy Director of the Education Department Wang Yi, Head of the Foreign Affairs Section of the Education Department Geng Zun Fang, Vice President of Anhui Medical University Cao Yun Xia, Dean of the Nursing College of Anhui Medical University Wang Wei Li and the college teacher and students, Director of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University Zhang Xin Shu, and Director of the Education Bureau of Huangshan City Liu Lu Shou. The trip was very fruitful that it strengthened KWNC's connection and mutual learning with other nursing colleges in our home country, and promoted the cooperation and exchanges between the two regions. It is hoped that the two colleges will establish concrete cooperation in the near future and together work for the better health of their residents.

The delegation paid a visit to and attended a seminar at the Nursing College of Anhui Medical University. The seminar covered a thorough and wide range of topics , and members took part in the discussions actively. Representatives of the two nursing colleges carried out in-depth exchanges of ideas and discussions on the colleges' history, teaching philosophy, programme features, programme objectives at different levels, evaluation on clinical and laboratory teaching, teaching staff and students' community involvement, promotion in scientific research and its current development, students' professional development after graduation , etc . The participants also engaged themselves in discussions about the possibility of establishing clinical research cooperation between the two colleges. Representatives of the two colleges in particular performed excellently. They shared their own experience s and feelings towards the colleges' teaching philosophy and the process of their personal growth in the nursing profession. Their sharing was insight ful and touching.

Ever since KWNC has developed into a tertiary education institute, it is committed to nurturing excellent nursing talents for Macao and paying close attention to the whole-person growth of young people. To achieve these objectives, the College encourages teaching staff and students to make consistent efforts to improve themselves. At the same time, the College puts emphasis on enhancing the connection with external parties. It has been establishing exchanges and cooperation with a large number of education al and medical organizations at home and abroad to quicken its academic growth. In the coming decade, the College will gradually adjust its programme structure, and offer diversified and in-depth nursing and health science programmes.

To keep abreast of the constant improvement of Macao's medical standard and the rapid development of specialist medical technology, we must step up the training for professionals and attach more importance to specialist development. In the future, Macao needs to strengthen its cooperation with the Chinese Mainland in medical and nursing field s from various aspects. In addition, Macao is turning into an ageing community, it is high time that we established a well-rounded cooperation focusing on elderly health care with the neighbouring regions.