On January 12, the inauguration ceremony of the Joint Secretariat for the World Digital Education Alliance (WDEA) was held at Beijing Normal University (BNU). The Secretariat has been co-established by BNU and the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE).

Ren Youqun, Vice Minister, Ministry of Education; Yu Jihong, President of BNU and Chairperson of WDEA; Liu Limin, President of CEAIE and representative of the Alliance's initiator; Yang Dan, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education, and Zhang Jin, Deputy Director, attended the event. Chen Xing, Vice President of BNU and Co-Secretary General of WDEA, presided over the meeting. More than a hundred experts and representatives attended the meeting.

Ren Youqun emphasized that China is deeply implementing the digital education strategy initiative and has achieved positive progress in the application, sharing, and innovation of digital education. He called on Alliance members to proactively adapt to the transformation of education in the digital era and to continue contributing to building an innovative, secure, and inclusive international community for digital education development.

Yu Jihong stated that since its establishment, the WDEA has garnered widespread attention and active engagement from the global education community. She emphasized that BNU will work closely with CEAIE to ensure that the Joint Secretariat serves as a ”bridge” connecting all parties, providing a more open, efficient, and practical cooperation platform for Alliance members, and contributing to the promotion of digital transformation, intelligent upgrading, and green development in global education.

Liu Limin expressed his hope that the establishment of the Joint Secretariat would serve as a new starting point. He called for pooling core strengths across a broader scope and at a higher level in areas such as global digital education governance, research, digital infrastructure development, and industrial transformation, in order to make new and greater contributions to driving the development of global digital education.

Yang Jun, Vice President and Secretary General of CEAIE, Co-Secretary General of WDEA outlined the progress made by the Alliance in 2025 in areas such as enhancing governance, gathering experts, building platforms, and advancing regional cooperation. He also clarified that in 2026, the Alliance will continue to focus on key priorities, including developing flagship activities such as the World Digital Education Conference, strengthening multilingual promotion and international communication, and deepening resource integration and collaborative innovation among members.

After the inauguration, the certificate awarding ceremony of WDEA expert advisory committee was held.

The first meeting of the expert advisory committee was chaired by Yang Zongkai, Director of the Alliance's expert advisory committee. 19 digital education experts from 13 countries and regions participated the meeting. The discussions centered on the Alliance's development pathways and core work plans, providing strategic guidance for the Alliance to focus on key tasks and advance practical cooperation.

Since its establishment in January 2024, the World Digital Education Alliance has seen its membership steadily grow, attracting 115 organizations from 43 countries and regions worldwide.