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On April 9, 2026, a six-member delegation headed by Dr. Edilio Mazzoleni, Assistant Rector of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC), Italy, visited BUA. The two sides held discussions on academic exchanges, discipline and talent development, and the establishment of a China-foreign cooperative education institution, among other issues. Present at the meeting were BUA's Vice President Wu Yan, all staff from the International Cooperation and Exchange Office, as well as heads of foreign affairs from the College of Intelligent Science and Engineering, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Economics and Management, College of Food Science and Engineering, and College of Humanities and Urban-Rural Development. The meeting was chaired by He Zhongwei.

Wu Yan extended a warm welcome to the visiting delegation. She gave a detailed introduction to BUA's educational characteristics, disciplinary strengths and research achievements in urban agriculture and forestry. She noted, BUA is now home to 30 national and provincial-level key research platforms, with two core disciplines, namely botany & zoology and agricultural sciences, listed among the top 1% globally in ESI rankings. She said, UCSC has achieved remarkable outcomes in agricultural and food sustainability, and the two universities have built a solid foundation for cooperation through previous exchanges and share highly aligned educational philosophies and goals.  Furthermore, she expressed hope that both sides will enhance cooperation in both breadth and depth to realize resource sharing and complementation of strengths, jointly cultivate outstanding talents with an international vision and professional competence, and contribute wisdom and strength to the development of agricultural education and industries in China and Italy.

In his address, Dr. Edilio Mazzoleni introduced the history of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and its cooperation with China. He said, founded in 1921, UCSC has its main campus in Milan and branch campuses in Rome, Cremona, Brescia and Piacenza, comprising 12 colleges and boasting outstanding strengths in medicine and agricultural sciences. He highlighted the university's high level of internationalization, with the largest number of international students in Italy and countless distinguished alumni. He recalled the visit paid by a BUA delegation to UCSC in 2025, acknowledged the solid foundation for the cooperation between the two universities, and expressed his eagerness to take the partnership to the next level.

After that, Guo Kaijun, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office of BUA, and Zhou Qianru, Senior Supervisor for China Affairs at the International Office (UCSC), presented an overview of respective universities.

The two sides also held an in-depth talk on launching a China-foreign cooperative education institution.

Following the meeting, the delegation visited the Smart Agriculture Phenotyping Center, intelligent greenhouse, College of Food Science and Engineering, and the municipal-level key laboratory of dairy cow nutrition, gaining an in-depth understanding of BUA's frontier exploration and practical achievements in agricultural research innovations and commercialization of outcomes. The delegation spoke highly of BUA's distinctive educational features and accomplishments.