Recently, the Ministry of Education released the approval results for Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions in 2026. The ZZULI-UNICAM Joint Academy of Zhengzhou University of Light Industry (hereinafter referred to as the ZZULI-UNICAM Joint Academy), a joint education program between Zhengzhou University of Light Industry (ZZULI) and the University of Camerino, Italy, was officially approved for establishment.

As an undergraduate-level Sino-foreign cooperative education institution with a non-independent legal person, the ZZULI-UNICAM Joint Academy offers three undergraduate majors: Food Science and Engineering, Product Design, and Information and Computing Science. It plans to enroll 300 students annually under the national admission scheme for regular higher education institutions. All majors adopt the "4+0" cultivation model. Students who complete all courses specified in the joint cultivation program developed by both universities and meet the graduation and degree conferment criteria will be awarded an undergraduate graduation certificate and a bachelor's degree certificate by ZZULI for the corresponding major, plus an equivalent bachelor's degree certificate by the University of Camerino.

ZZULI forged a cooperative partnership with the University of Camerino in 2014, starting with inter-university academic exchanges. In 2020, our joint undergraduate education program in Food Science and Engineering obtained official approval. To date, six cohorts of students have been admitted, and the program passed the Ministry of Education's evaluation on Sino-foreign cooperative education in 2024. This program has been recognized as one of the first high-quality Sino-foreign cooperative education projects in Henan Province, and selected as a model case of Henan's educational opening-up. The establishment of the Joint Academy marks a transformative upgrade in bilateral cooperation between the two universities, shifting from single program collaboration to comprehensive institutional co-construction. Boasting an interdisciplinary integrated training system, the Joint Academy serves as an international talent cultivation hub tailored to the upgrading demands of Henan's food industry and regional industrial development. It also stands as a tangible practice of ZZULI's commitment to advancing high-level educational opening-up.