China-ASEAN Alliance for Lifelong Learning Launched

The launch marks the establishment of the first permanent, multilateral platform dedicated to lifelong education collaboration within the ASEAN region.

Representatives from founding members jointly initiated the alliance. The diverse coalition includes leading institutions such as Guizhou Open University, Indonesia's Diponegoro University, the Lao National Institute for Energy and Trade Research under the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Cambodian-American First International School, Vietnam Hanoi Academy, and Australia's Education Innovation Alliance. Prominent provincial Open Universities from China, including Sichuan, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Yunnan, alongside Shanghai Open University and Qingdao Open University, also formed the core membership. Juntai Rong Hong (Beijing) Cultural Technology Co., Ltd. joined as a key industry partner.

As a voluntary consortium of schools, institutions, and organizations, the Alliance aims to deepen regional cooperation across four key pillars: mutual learning of pedagogical models, sharing of educational resources, co-development of teaching standards, and collaborative theoretical research.

Guizhou Open University will serve as the secretariat for the Alliance. In a statement, the university pledged to leverage digital technologies to drive high-quality development in lifelong education, contributing to the creation of an omnipresent and accessible learning ecosystem.

The establishment of the Alliance significantly consolidates the China-ASEAN consensus on lifelong learning. It provides a crucial new platform to extend regional educational cooperation across the entire lifecycle—from early childhood to post-retirement learning. Experts note that this multilateral framework injects strong synergistic momentum into building a global new ecology for lifelong learning, aligning with the global shift toward digital and inclusive education systems.