On September 13th , 2018, SCU President Wei-Ta Pan signed an agreement memo for overseas paid internship projects with Zheng-Hong Li (李政宏), president of Shanghai Taiwan Compatriot Investment Enterprise Association (SHTA) (上海市臺灣同胞投資企業協會) at Waishuangshi Campus. The cooperation aims to provide Soochow students with high-quality internship environment in Taiwanese-owned companies in Mainland China in order to help students connect to workplace as early as possible.

In the meeting leading up to the signing ceremony, Pan and Li, along with all the teachers present, had a discussion over job issues and cross-strait academic exchange and are looking forward to closer cooperation and a new prospect on the internship between SCU and the industries.

According to SCU’s Career Development Center, the number of students going overseas for internships totaled 107 in 2017, an increase of 328% from the previous year, showing a growing need for internship among students. SHTA will demand that every company affiliated under the Association provide each student with internship allowance from 2,800 to 3,000 RMB in addition to accommodations and round-trip tickets.

SHTA was established in 1994 as a private organization mainly composed of Taiwanese-owned corporations. The number of its members has grown from 143 in it early days to more than 1,800 now, accounting for about a quarter of all Taiwanese companies in Shanghai.

As the current, also the youngest-ever, president of SHTA and chairman of Shanghai Karon Valve Machinery. Co., LTD, Li was once selected as one of Shanghai top ten young business figures, and has been a successful entrepreneur with multiple roles. To help Taiwanese students enhance their abilities and competitiveness in the job market, he has dedicated most of his time to providing internship assistance in Shanghai to alumni from Shih Chien University, Shih Hsin University, Feng Chia University, and Ming Chuan University, etc. in hopes of creating win-win cooperation between schools and companies.