Internship Team Engages in Exchange and Cooperation Talks with Tashkent State Technical University, Samarkand State University, and Bukhara State University
Internship Students and Faculty Hold On-Site Exchanges and Seminars at Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine and Angren Open-Pit Coal Mine in Uzbekistan
Uzbek National and Corporate Media Conduct Special Interviews with Our Internship Students and Faculty
From July 15 to 30, 2026, a delegation of 22 students and faculty members from the Class of 2023 International Mining Engineering Program of the School of Mines traveled to Uzbekistan for a 16-day summer overseas internship. Despite temperatures reaching up to 46°C during the internship period, the team remained enthusiastic throughout. The delegation was led by Vice Dean Yong Yuan and Xiaowei Feng, Director of the International Affairs Office of the School.
The year 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the overseas internship program for the Mining Engineering major at our School. Since its inaugural departure in 2016, ten cohorts of CUMT students have successively visited mining universities in the United States, Australia, Poland, Russia, and other countries for exchange and study. To date, the School has sent a total of 176 students on overseas internships. Ten years of refinement have made this Central Asia journey not only another significant milestone in the School's international talent cultivation but also a vivid practice of actively responding to the Belt and Road Initiative and deepening Sino-Uzbek educational and scientific cooperation in the mining and energy sectors.
High-Level Foreign Accompaniment Throughout, Demonstrating High-Standard International Cooperation
This overseas internship received great attention and strong support from the Uzbek partners. Shavkat Azimov, Vice President of Tashkent State Technical University (TSTU), spoke highly of the event and provided full-time guidance and accompaniment during several key internship segments. To ensure the high-quality implementation of the internship, TSTU also assigned Yuejie Ye, Deputy Director of the International Office, and Rovshanov Sultonbek, Assistant to the President, as on-site guides and assistants, who accompanied the academic delegation throughout the entire process of academic investigation and industrial practice. This high-level reception and comprehensive support fully demonstrated the respect of the foreign partners for CUMT and their high recognition of the strength of our mining engineering discipline, as well as their strong willingness to deepen strategic cooperation between the two universities.
Deep Engagement with Central Asian Mining Giants, Direct Exposure to the Frontline of Mining Engineering
This internship effectively moved the "classroom" directly to the mine sites and industrial core areas of Uzbekistan. During the internship, the team visited Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (AGMK), one of the largest mining and metallurgical enterprises in Central Asia, where they conducted on-site inspections of modern large-scale mining and smelting processes and visited the Palace of Culture of Metallurgists affiliated with AGMK. The students and faculty engaged in on-site discussions with AGMK staff. At the Angren open-pit coal mine, operated by Uzbekko'mir JSC, Uzbekistan's largest industrial conglomerate, the team experienced the vast scale of a 10-million-ton-level open-pit mine firsthand and conducted on-site teaching and discussions on mining issues such as "slope stability control of giant open-pit mines" and "optimization of intelligent mining processes." In addition, the group visited the Physics-Sun Research Institute, one of only two giant solar furnaces in the world, where students explored the light-to-heat conversion experimental platform built during the Soviet era, broadening their innovative thinking in frontier science and green energy development. Subsequently, they visited the Technopark in Tashkent, which has been revitalized on the site of old Soviet-era industrial facilities. Engineers and technicians at the Technopark provided a hands-on explanation of this large-scale modern manufacturing base integrating product assembly and automation, enhancing students' understanding of future automation in mining and processing equipment and modern mine enterprise management. On behalf of CUMT and the School of Mines, Vice Dean Yong Yuan presented commemorative gifts to the aforementioned enterprises.
Seizing Early Opportunities for Higher Education Cooperation in Central Asia, Expanding the International Academic Network
In the academic exchange segment, TSTU tailored a series of high-level lectures for our students, covering geology, energy, mechanical engineering, and automation. In addition to classroom learning at Tashkent State Technical University, the team also conducted formal academic visits to Samarkand State University (SamSU) and Bukhara State University (BuxDU). These initial contacts with two historically rich Central Asian universities have given the School a head start in pursuing deeper cooperation, including joint research, student exchange programs, and the establishment of international joint laboratories with Uzbek institutions in the future. These efforts also lay the foundation for extending the "mining global outreach" strategy and building a Central Asian core node of the Belt and Road International Alliance of Mining Universities. During the internship, Vice Dean Yong Yuan also held talks with Alikulov Shukhrat Sharofovich, Vice President of Navoi State University of Mining and Technologies, who was in Tashkent at the time.
Exploring Silk Road Cultural Heritage, Paying Tribute to the Blending of Chinese and Uzbek Civilizations
During the second phase of academic visits, the team followed the ancient Silk Road route, engaging in cultural study tours themed "Exploring Silk Road Civilizations, Jointly Building the Belt and Road." They visited UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Registan Square and the Ark Citadel. In Samarkand, the students and faculty made a special visit to the statue square of Confucius, where they looked up to the great sage in a foreign land. This experience deeply impressed upon them the profound influence of traditional Chinese culture in Belt and Road countries and enhanced their cultural confidence and sense of mission as young mining professionals going global.
Government and National Media Spotlight, Estimated Online Exposure Exceeds One Million
CUMT's reputation in the Central Asian region has been steadily growing, and the solid professional competence and fluent cross-cultural communication skills demonstrated by our students during this internship attracted intensive attention from Uzbek government agencies and local mainstream media. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan published a special article on its official social media platforms, highly commending the significance of this program in consolidating international academic cooperation, promoting scientific exchange, and advancing educational tourism. Meanwhile, MY5, a national mainstream television channel in Uzbekistan, produced a feature report on the internship; Yoshlar TV, affiliated with MTRK (the National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan), conducted a special interview with our internship team; and AGMK's official media also conducted on-site follow-up filming and in-depth interviews with CUMT faculty and students.
Given the extensive viewership of the two national television channels, along with the online dissemination effects of government ministry official accounts and corporate media networks, it is estimated that the cumulative online views and exposure of this overseas internship in Uzbekistan and the broader Central Asian region have exceeded one million. This phenomenal multi-dimensional publicity has significantly boosted the international visibility and influence of CUMT's mining engineering program, leaving a colorful chapter in the deepening cooperation between China and Uzbekistan in youth education and the mining sector.
Ten years of perseverance have borne fruit. From 2016 to 2026, the School of Mines' overseas internship program has spanned North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. Looking ahead, the School will continue to uphold the educational philosophy of "Rooted in China, with a Global Vision," leveraging the Belt and Road Initiative to continuously provide the global mining industry with high-caliber, versatile top-tier talents with international competitiveness.
News Source: School of Mines
