Fuzhou Melbourne Polytechnic (FMP) is a Sino-foreign cooperative institute between Minjiang University (MJU) and Melbourne Polytechnic (MP). It was founded against the background of friendly state and provincial relations between Fujian Province and Tasmania, Australia, during the period when Xi Jinping served as the governor of Fujian Province. It is the first Sino-foreign cooperative education institute with independent legal status in Fujian Province, and the currently only three institutes of its kind in China. Its former name was IEN Institute of Minjiang University, which had 24 years’ experience in Sino-foreign cooperative school education. Besides, it has been recognized as the only one that has passed the national Sino-foreign cooperative education quality evaluation and is part of the province’s “Double High Plan”.
FMP follows the educational philosophy of “pursuit of quality but not quantity to meet societal needs”, which was put forward by President Xi Jinping when he was the President of the original Minjiang Vocational University during his tenure as Party Secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee.
The establishment of FMP is of strategic significance to the opening up and development of Fujian Province. FMP facilitates an approach to international education that lays emphasis on teaching quality and the development of practical and technical skills.
FMP implements higher vocational education, with open, distinctive and high-level international characteristics, that aims to train students with patriotic sentiments, and international vision. FMP strives to give students an awareness of international rules and professional standards.
FMP introduces an internationalized curriculum and teaching management system. It establishes a “cultivation mode” featuring customized English courses, general education courses and professional courses integrated curriculum, collaboration with foreign schools and enterprises, and various graduation options. English courses will be delivered at different levels based on students’ English competence. Students can then aim for an Associate Degree or a diploma, and will receive the appropriate specialized education. Qualified students can obtain a diploma from FMP and an Associate Degree or a diploma from MP.
Currently, we have established "new engineering" and "new business" majors that cover Information Engineering, International Business and International Leisure and Hospitality Management related majors, and the corresponding teaching departments have been established to implement the curriculum. English Language Center has been established to develop students’ comprehensive English proficiency and General Education Center is for enhancing students’ overall quality.
We closely align with the three major themes of "Digital Fuzhou", "Platform Fuzhou", and "Maritime Silk Road Fuzhou", focusing on the development of the "Four Major Economies" in Fujian Province and the accelerated construction of a modern international city. This forms a "digital+" modern business and tourism professional cluster, aiming to better cultivate internationally high-quality technical and skilled talents for the development of digital economy.
FMP has a team of teachers that combines Chinese and foreign educators, creating a "bilingual, dual-teacher, and dual-competency" faculty. It implements teaching management in line with international education standards, meeting the requirements of Chinese higher education and undergoing evaluation and supervision by the Australian Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). With 24 years of operation by integrating quality international educational resources, FMP collaborates with MP to establish an international talent cultivation model. It features in customized English courses, integrated general education and professional courses, collaboration with foreign schools and enterprises, and various pathway options. English courses will be delivered at different levels based on students’ English competence. Students can then aim for an Associate Degree or a diploma, and will receive the appropriate specialized education. Qualified students can obtain a diploma from FMP and an Associate Degree or a diploma from MP.
By taking advantages of Chinese vocational education and Sino-foreign education cooperation, FMP has earned several provincial and national contracts for key construction projects and quality assurance projects. It also won a special award and multiple first and second prizes at the Fujian Provincial Vocational Education Teaching Achievement Awards. And achieved "1+X" certificate system pilot and more than 30 national and provincial key construction projects. Furthermore, according to the Wu Shulian Rankings for Chinese Vocational Colleges, FMP has been ranked as the top Chinese vocational colleges for three consecutive years and and has maintained the first and second place in terms of graduates employment quality and undergraduate enrollment rate.
FMP has been deepening education cooperation and promoting cultural exchanges home and abroad. So far, there have been 140 batches of educational exchanges from 69 foreign universities, with 457 exchange visits; 49 batches of exchange visits from 50 domestic universities, with 226 exchange visits; Currently, FMP has established strong partnerships with 83 renowned overseas educational institutions and has established an international educational exchange and cooperation platform named the ‘FMP International Education Alliance’. The school actively "goes out", strives to build an internationalized industry-education integration platform, buttresses the "Belt and Road" initiative and the strategy of Chinese enterprises going out, integrates high-quality resources, and forms a synergy for internationalized development. Through the joint development of skills training resources and curriculum standards, FMP and enterprises carry out international training, serve the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road cross-border new retail industrial park "going out", and initially form the international brand of "China FMP Cross-border".
In its history, FMP has produced over 8 thousand contributing members of society. The employment rate of FMP graduates is over 97%, and more than 95% of them are engaged in jobs related to their majors. In the last four years, 60% of the total number of graduates has been admitted to undergraduate programs, ranking in the forefront of Fujian province. It has been successfully assisted over a thousand students in pursuing further studies abroad.Most of them have already obtained master's degrees and have joined society as individuals with promising careers and bright futures. For example, Xu Shengmin from class of 2008, went to Australia for further studies and obtained bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. He also completed postdoctoral research at the Singapore Institute of Management(SIM). Another graduate Xu Zhe from class of 2011, then president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Tasmania, was invited to attend the state banquet, during President Xi Jinping's visit to Australia in November 2014. FMP has become the largest cooperative education institution and has the highest number of students studying abroad in Fujian Province.
With 24 years of cooperation, FMP has led the province and even the country in introducing high-quality resources, training international talents and engaging in international exchanges and cooperation.FMP is determined to continue being an open, distinctive, and high-level international vocational institution.