China and the UK have wrapped up the fourth meeting of their high-level people-to-people dialogue. The meeting in China's financial hub Shanghai pushed further cooperation between the two countries.
For a better and stronger relationship, high-profile UK officials from nearly ten areas were there to promote further cooperation in areas such as education, culture, technology, health and tourism.
There were also sideline activities such as basic education forums, youth dialogues, and cultural events. Cooperation in past years has been productive, particularly in the education sector.
The math teacher exchange program is one of the successful examples. More than 350 teachers from both sides have benefited. In the next four years, the British government will inject 41 million pounds to promote this program in all the primary schools in England.
Shanghai caught the world's attention by topping the table in the Pisa rankings, a listing which compares test scores of 15-year-olds from countries and regional education systems around the world. China's financial hub did well in reading and maths.
It's drawn attention to the changing global education map. Math teacher Zhang Yuhong is part of this force for change.
With ten years of teaching experience, she was selected to work with other maths teachers in the UK, using Chinese teaching methods among primary school children.
She was among the first batch of teachers to take part in an exchange and communication program initiated by both countries' governments in 2014.
"There are many differences in math education between the two countries. Based on my experience of learning and teaching in both countries, I found out that while we are exporting our teaching methods to the UK, we are also learning from their ways of teaching. It is good chance for us to combine each other's skills and bring the best to the kids," said Zhang Yuhong, maths teacher of Tianshan No. 1 Primary School.
At Zhang's primary school, it is easy to spot interesting corners like this one.
"You can see our students' interest in maths. This is the result of hard work from our teachers. Without their influence on the curriculum, students would have less fun," said Lyu Huaqiong, headmaster of Tianshan No. 1 Primary School.
"We've also received positive feedback from our teachers following the exchange program. We made many changes in our own curriculum and want to bring more to the British students next time."
According to a report published by the UK's Department of Education, the math teacher exchange programme is a highly innovative one.
In January, Zhang Yuhong will head back to the UK together with other math teachers to spend two weeks in local schools to bring students the practical and fun experience of math of Shanghai style.
