The delegation from IITU visits XJTU.

Assylbek Abdiashimovich Issakhov, rector of the International Information Technology University (IITU) in Kazakhstan, led a delegation on their first official visit to Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) on March 10-11. This marked a milestone "ice-breaking" exchange between the two institutions. XJTU President and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Zhang Liqun met with the delegation.

As the first IITU delegation to visit a top Chinese university in its 15-year history, it marked a substantive step forward in bilateral cooperation.

Zhang warmly welcomed the delegation and introduced XJTU's educational philosophy, industrial-education integration practices, and international cooperation initiatives. Highlighting the strategic alignment between the two universities in the digital economy field, Zhang proposed launching joint talent training programs.

Both sides agreed on establishing a regular exchange mechanism and promoting mutual visits by faculty and students, aiming to inject new momentum into the China-Kazakhstan comprehensive strategic partnership.

Rector Issakhov provided an overview of IITU's history and strengths, noting the university's leading position in Kazakhstan in areas such as Olympiad competitions and the digital economy.

He introduced IITU's dual-mentorship model and expressed hope that XJTU professors could serve as mentors to enhance the university's overall research capacity. He also looked forward to future collaborations with Chinese enterprises and deepening cooperation in cultural exchange and academic mobility.

The delegation toured XJTU's Xingqing Campus and the Western China Science and Technology Innovation Harbor and discussed potential faculty and student exchange programs with the School of International Education and the School of Telecommunications.

IITU is a leading institution in Central Asia that cultivates globally recognized IT professionals. It was established on April 2, 2009, by decree of Kazakhstan's First President, Nursultan Nazarbayev. It is the only university in Kazakhstan to receive ASIIN international accreditation in 2019. In the same year, according to the Atameken ranking, IITU ranked first nationally in the "Information Systems" and "Electronic Journalism" disciplines, with its talent development in information security also ranking first in the country.