On July 17, the 2025 Tea Forum of Uva Wellassa University was held in Badulla, Sri Lanka. With the theme of “Promoting Human Well-Being through Tea Culture,” the forum brought together tea industry experts, teachers and students from academic institutions, as well as industry representatives from both China and Sri Lanka. As a partner institution, Guangxi Vocational and Technical College participated online. During the opening ceremony, President HUANG Yongchun delivered an online address. In the technical session, Dr. WU Weijun from the Tea Teaching and Research Office gave a keynote presentation, highlighting the college’s expertise and international outlook in tea industry education.

Online forum venue

HUANG Yongchun delivering an online address at the opening ceremony

At the opening ceremony, HUANG Yongchun reflected on the deep friendship between China and Sri Lanka, which has been strengthened through their shared tea culture. He reviewed the achievements of cooperation between the two institutions and proposed four concrete initiatives: establishing a regular mechanism for China–Sri Lanka exchange on tea technology, jointly building a database of tea varieties and processing techniques, launching short-term online exchange programs for faculty and students, and jointly cultivating disease-resistant tea varieties while developing value-added tea products. These initiatives further clarified the direction for future collaboration between the two institutions.

During the opening ceremony, a video highlighting the cooperation between Uva Wellassa University and Guangxi Vocational and Technical College was screened, vividly presenting the two institutions’ collaboration in academic exchanges and technology sharing. Several leaders of Uva Wellassa University also delivered remarks, affirming the achievements of the partnership and expressing their expectation for further deepening cooperation.

During the technical session, Dr. WU Weijun from the college’s Tea Teaching and Research Office delivered a keynote presentation titled “Tea Plant: From Cultivation to Processing.” His talk covered environmental regulation for tea cultivation, cultivation and management practices, and key parameters in tea processing, which prompted lively discussions among participants on tea technology research.

Dr. Wu Weijun delivering the keynote speech

As a nationally recognized institution under China’s “Double High Plan” (High-Level Higher Vocational Schools and Professional Programs Development Plan), the college’s Tea Production and Processing Technology program cluster, leveraging the Silk Road Tea Academy platform, has continued to promote international exchange and cooperation in tea vocational education. Taking this forum as an opportunity, the college will advance the proposed initiatives, further strengthen resource sharing and technical exchanges in tea industry education between China and Sri Lanka, and provide strong vocational education support for the development of the tea industries in both countries.