Sino-Overseas Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation (SOECEF) is a non-profit organisation set up to promote and facilitate education and cultural exchange between China and other parts of the world. SOECEF benefits from the pooled resources of China Business Network (CBN) and Grace International as well as supports of many other organisations and respected personalities who have had direct involvement and vast experience in the educational and/or cultural exchanges between China and other countries.

Prior to the establishment of SOECEF the CBN London Office in collaboration with a number of partnering organisations in China have been providing marketing services and recruitment supports to a large number of foreign Universities, HE and FE colleges as well as other educational institutions from University of Aberdeen, Durham, Kings College London to University of Westminster. Many of the existing clients can be found in one of its main online projects called "Studying Abroad Online" i.e. http://chuguo.cn and http://liuxue168.cn on the China Wide Web or http://www.studyabroad168.net on the World Wide Web.

Grace International has been highly visible in the fields of facilitating the educational exchange between many Chinese and British universities such as University of Hull and University of Manchester and Beijing Jiaotong University, Renmin University, Yanshan University etc. We have also benefited from and are very grateful to the support given by the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy and particularly the personal attention and care from Education Councillor Mr. Li Wangrong who is now the Secretary General of China Scholarship Council. It is the intention of the current operating officers of SOECEF to expand its activities both in China and overseas so that many more persons and institutions will benefit from our good courses and enhanced resources.

■■■ Objectives

• To promote and facilitate education and cultural exchange between China, and other parts of the world.
• To provide advice and assistance to Chinese students to enable them to pursue or continue their studies or otherwise further their education or profession overseas.
• To encourage and to assist Chinese education and cultural institutions that wish to forge relationships with overseas institutions and verse visa.
• To recruit foreign teachers particularly for teaching foreign languages in China.
• To provide English language courses to Chinese students and other foreign students and to provide Chinese language programs for English and other foreign nationals that wish to study Chinese language.
• To promote Chinese culture by supplying well-established Chinese artists from all fields such as music, visual and fine arts, calligraphy and martial arts etc. to foreign media and other organisations that are interested in any aspect of Chinese culture.

■■■ Areas of benefit

China, United Kingdom and rest of the world.

Overseas activities of SOECEF are currently undertaken from the London Office of the China Business Network and that of Grace International. The Foundation's activities in China are undertaken and supported by a number of members and associated organisations throughout China.