International Students in WUT Fall in Love with "Off-campus Classroom"

"Boys and girls, today we are taking an international trade practice class in Wuhan East Lake Comprehensive Free Trade Zone …” Recently, under the leadership of Zhou Yajie, a teacher from the Business School of Wuchang University of Technology, 84 international students of Grade 2017 went to Wuhan East Lake Comprehensive Free Trade Zone in two groups to carry out extracurricular classroom activities. Students visited Guanggu Bonded Exhibition and Trading Center, Wuhan East Lake Comprehensive Bonded Zone Exhibition Hall, Hubei cross-border electronic commerce Supervision Center and Wuhan Jinyu Comprehensive Bonded Development Co., Ltd.

In the Guanggu Bonded Exhibition and Trading Center, students were amazed by the variety of commodities from various countries. Some students not only looked for their own commodities with great interest, but also enthusiastically introduced their own customs and cultures to other students. In the exhibition hall of Wuhan East Lake Comprehensive Free Trade Zone, staff and teachers explained to the students the development process and current situation of Wuhan East Lake Comprehensive Free Trade Zone. When the students learned that more than 500 enterprises, including Jiaji, Lenovo, Motorola and other top 500 companies in the world, had entered the bonded zone, they expressed their shock. David from Ghana said excitedly that the concept of bonded area was mentioned by the teacher during the school class, and it was still very shocking to visit on the spot. The commentator said that it has been less than 10 years since it was built, but it has made great contributions to Wuhan's economy. I wish there were such places in our country. Alifa is from Kazakhstan, she said, seeing everything here and the price is not expensive really makes people eyes open. After graduation, I will take my family to visit China.

At the cross-border electronic commerce Supervision Center in Hubei Province, the staff showed the whole process of customs clearance and inspection of foreign goods on the spot. The goods are transported from the port to the waiting area of the inspection center and then checked by the machine. Some goods will be randomly unpacked and checked by the customs. The checked goods will be transferred to domestic transportation companies for legal sale throughout the country. For the first time, students showed great interest in seeing the whole process of customs clearance inspection. Umar from Tajikistan said that these processes were described by the teacher in class. However, no matter how brilliantly it is said in class, it is not as clear and profound as on-the-spot investigation. Thanks to the school for providing us with such extra-school classes, I want to share these experiences with my friends in China.

When leaving Wuhan East Lake Comprehensive Bonded Zone soon, the students are still not satisfied. They hope that there will be more such extracurricular activities in the future, which will not only consolidate the theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom, but also apply the knowledge learned in practice. Yi Xiaolong from Malawi said that this teaching mode is of great help to our professional study. Because I think the knowledge in the textbook is not enough. Only when I apply what I have learned can I help people and make people impressed. Teacher Zhou Yajie admitted frankly that this is a new attempt in classroom teaching mode. As the most important central city in central China, Wuhan's international trade development is of great significance to the economic development of central China and even China. A large proportion of our students come from countries along the belt and road initiative. By visiting and studying in the East Lake Comprehensive Bonded Zone, we can show them the development of China's international trade field, which has certain influence and enlightenment on the future return of students to work in related industries.

According to Director Liu Xiaolu of the International Institute of Education, school leaders are very supportive of international students' extracurricular activities. President Zhao specially approved the car for this activity, and the International Institute of Education sent teachers to accompany them all the way to ensure the smooth and safe operation of the activity. Teachers and students reported that the activities had achieved the expected results and the extracurricular classes were welcomed by international students.