On November 16^th, 2009, the ‘2009 Education Forum for Asia and Euro-Asian Education Collaboration Conference’ (‘2009 Education Forum for Asia’ for short) was held in the Ancient Capital of Xi’an. Distinguished guests from Kazakhstan, Nepal, Belgium, Korea, the United States, as well as many other countries were in attendance. The many guests included former leaders of nations, international organization representatives, diplomats, foundation representatives, educational institution representatives, and many other representatives from leading educational organizations around the globe. Their goal in coming here was for the continued development of education throughout the world and for increased collaborative efforts between Europe and Asia.

      On the morning of the 16^th, the ‘2009 Euro- Asia Economic Forum’ had its opening ceremony; CPC Central Committee member, Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice–Chairman of the PRC Xi Jinping gave the opening remarks regarding the current and future relationship between Europe and Asia and his hopes for further development. Apart from Mr. Xi, former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, H.E. Sergey Terechshenko, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Mr. Lee Soo Sung, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, H.E. Mr. Jose Desmarets, and former Prime Minister of Nepal, H.E. Mr. Kirti Nidhi Bista also gave talks during the opening ceremony.

       During the opening ceremonies, H.E Lee Soo Sung expressed how throughout the history of the world, educational cooperation and exchange has been a major cause of economic development. He stresses how we cannot allow ourselves to overlook the importance of these types of exchanges and in order to speed up economic development we must vigorously pursue the lofty aims of cross-border collaboration. He mentioned, also, how the above mentioned collaboration was absolutely necessary for all of mankind if we are to reach a state of peace and prosperity on our planet.

       H.E. Mr. Kirti Nidhi Bista pointed out how talented individuals make a great contribution to a society, and that these talented individuals should cooperate with all nations in order to allow them to overcome the problems in their own education systems. He commented how this once not an isolated branch, and how it must change direction and direct itself towards unceasing change that will carry education through this period of time and allow it to reach equal status with all of the other necessities of our daily lives.

       Besides the aforementioned speakers, the Standing Committee Member of the NPC and Vice Chairman of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, Mr. Wang Zuoshu; the Chairman of the Asia Pacific Federation of UNESCO, Mr. Tao Xiping; Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of Shaanxi Provincial People’s Congress, Mr. Zhang Daohong; and Mr. Zhang Zhongyuan, Secretary General of the China Education Development Foundation, on behalf of Mr. Zhang Baoqing, Former Vice Minister of Education and Chairman of China Education Development Foundation all also delivered speeches during the opening ceremony.

       Also present at the opening ceremony were Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Parliament, Arevik Petrosyan, Sri Lankan Ambassador, Karunatilaka Amunugama, IDP of Australian Education International Development Manager, and Former Director of Henan Provincial Education Department, and President of the Hunan International Exchange Association, Mr. Li Wencheng; Professor Jia Wenshan of the University of California; CEO of the American International Leadership Foundation, Dong Jiling; and nearly 200 other honoured guests were all on hand for the opening ceremony which was managed by the Secretary General of Education Forum for Asia, Mr. Yao Wang.

       After the opening ceremony concluded, all of the different groups entered into discussions about the future of education, cooperation and collaboration between international institutions, methods to find a balance in the exchange and cultivation of talent across borders, the development of charitable foundations to fund educational programs, and the development of elementary education.

       During the conference, the winners of the 4^th annual ‘University Student Photography Exhibition’ were awarded prizes in an award ceremony.

       In the evening, a dinner party was held by Yihai Education Group with the theme of ‘Love Around Beichuan’ where the principal of Beichuan middle school, a school that was destroyed by the Sichuan earthquake of 2008, presented a book compiled by the students and faculty of her school talking about their experience and reflections on that tragic event. Some of the book was recited to the group during the presentation.

        The ‘2009 Education Forum for Asia’ with the Financial, Energy, and Customs Bureau Chief held 3 meetings at the same conference; Boao Forum for Asia, China Education Development Foundation, the Chinese Ministry of Education, and the Shanxi People’s Government all acted as active sponsors for the event.

        Media Coverage for the event was given by the Guangming Daily, Renming Net, Chinese Education Television Station, China Youth Daily, the Hong Kong Wenhui, Sina, Blue Online, and several Shanxi media outlets. SOHU held a live broadcast of the event online.