(Bandar Seri Begawan, 18th) In the current wave of artificial intelligence sweeping the globe, how to cultivate localized and sustainable elite talents for the digital era through international cooperation has become a key issue. At the 2025 "Southeast Asia Forum" held at South China Normal University from November 15th to 16th, Brunei "Culture Classroom" mentor Shen Renxiang was invited to attend and participate.
Shen Renxiang's keynote speech provided a highly anticipated blueprint that combines the "Brunei Plan" with "Chinese Wisdom" for addressing this question.
One of the sub-forums focused on education under the theme "Enhancing the Quality and Upgrading of China-Southeast Asia Science and Education Cooperation in the Context of AI", with a total of 12 related discussions. At the forum, Mentor Shen Renxiang put forward the "China-Brunei Digital Education Elite Empowerment and Ecosystem Co-construction" initiative.
Shen Renxiang pointed out that traditional educational cooperation mostly centered on resource output and project cooperation. The new plan aims to realize a fundamental paradigm shift—from "resource export" to "capacity co-construction", and from "project cooperation" to "ecosystem integration".
He emphasized that the ultimate goal of the plan is not simply technology transfer, but to work together with Brunei to build a digital education ecosystem capable of self-evolution and continuous innovation. Its core is to empower local elites to become the internal driving force for Brunei's national transformation.
In his presentation, Shen Renxiang outlined four major pillars for implementing the plan:
1. Precisely Stratified Education System: The plan covers the entire chain from K-12 to vocational and higher education. At the primary and secondary school level, "center-to-hub" demonstration schools and inclusive competitions will be established to plant the seeds of AI literacy. In vocational education, "AI Empowerment Stations" will be created to develop scenario-based "Chinese+AI" courses, such as "AI Smart Chinese Tour Guide", directly empowering Brunei’s tourism, finance, and other pillar industries. At the higher education level, "micro-majors" and "closed-loop scholarships" will forge top AI research talents and ensure that talents return to serve their country after graduation.
2. “AI+Industry” Practice Platform: The plan proposes an "AI Industry Innovation Challenge", with official ministries setting real-world problems and Chinese tech companies providing support, enabling students to face actual industry challenges, promote the implementation and incubation of innovative solutions, and complete a value closed-loop from learning to creation.
3. Digital Education Infrastructure: To ensure cooperation is sustainable and scalable, the plan advocates for the "cloudification" of smart classrooms, reducing local costs by leveraging cloud computing power, and deepening the "sister school" network to carry out cross-border synchronized classes and project-based learning.
4. Implementation Strategy and Safeguards: To ensure success, the plan places emphasis on top-level design, localized cultural adaptation, high-end brand building, and independent third-party evaluation, aiming to create a high-standard cooperation model that stands the test of scrutiny.
In the conclusion, the strategic value of cooperation was elevated. For Brunei, this initiative will cultivate the core engine for national economic diversification and create a new national identity as a "small but beautiful, elite yet strong" smart nation in ASEAN and the Islamic world. For China, successful implementation in Brunei will set a high-standard model for the internationalization of Chinese digital education, provide strong credibility for the entry of China's technology and development models into the broader Southeast Asian market, and effectively promote the construction of the "China-ASEAN Digital Community of Shared Future".
This plan, with its "precision" and "elitism" as core competitive advantages, abandons crude expansion in favor of maximum value through deep penetration. It is not just an educational cooperation project, but a comprehensive national collaboration that deepens strategic mutual trust and promotes industrial synergy through the bond of education, offering an inspiring model for upgrading and enhancing educational and technological cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries.
Shen Renxiang's keynote speech provided a highly anticipated blueprint that combines the "Brunei Plan" with "Chinese Wisdom" for addressing this question.
Shen Renxiang pointed out that traditional educational cooperation mostly centered on resource output and project cooperation. The new plan aims to realize a fundamental paradigm shift—from "resource export" to "capacity co-construction", and from "project cooperation" to "ecosystem integration".
He emphasized that the ultimate goal of the plan is not simply technology transfer, but to work together with Brunei to build a digital education ecosystem capable of self-evolution and continuous innovation. Its core is to empower local elites to become the internal driving force for Brunei's national transformation.
In his presentation, Shen Renxiang outlined four major pillars for implementing the plan:
1. Precisely Stratified Education System: The plan covers the entire chain from K-12 to vocational and higher education. At the primary and secondary school level, "center-to-hub" demonstration schools and inclusive competitions will be established to plant the seeds of AI literacy. In vocational education, "AI Empowerment Stations" will be created to develop scenario-based "Chinese+AI" courses, such as "AI Smart Chinese Tour Guide", directly empowering Brunei’s tourism, finance, and other pillar industries. At the higher education level, "micro-majors" and "closed-loop scholarships" will forge top AI research talents and ensure that talents return to serve their country after graduation.
2. “AI+Industry” Practice Platform: The plan proposes an "AI Industry Innovation Challenge", with official ministries setting real-world problems and Chinese tech companies providing support, enabling students to face actual industry challenges, promote the implementation and incubation of innovative solutions, and complete a value closed-loop from learning to creation.
3. Digital Education Infrastructure: To ensure cooperation is sustainable and scalable, the plan advocates for the "cloudification" of smart classrooms, reducing local costs by leveraging cloud computing power, and deepening the "sister school" network to carry out cross-border synchronized classes and project-based learning.
4. Implementation Strategy and Safeguards: To ensure success, the plan places emphasis on top-level design, localized cultural adaptation, high-end brand building, and independent third-party evaluation, aiming to create a high-standard cooperation model that stands the test of scrutiny.
In the conclusion, the strategic value of cooperation was elevated. For Brunei, this initiative will cultivate the core engine for national economic diversification and create a new national identity as a "small but beautiful, elite yet strong" smart nation in ASEAN and the Islamic world. For China, successful implementation in Brunei will set a high-standard model for the internationalization of Chinese digital education, provide strong credibility for the entry of China's technology and development models into the broader Southeast Asian market, and effectively promote the construction of the "China-ASEAN Digital Community of Shared Future".
This plan, with its "precision" and "elitism" as core competitive advantages, abandons crude expansion in favor of maximum value through deep penetration. It is not just an educational cooperation project, but a comprehensive national collaboration that deepens strategic mutual trust and promotes industrial synergy through the bond of education, offering an inspiring model for upgrading and enhancing educational and technological cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries.