Eight top administrators, including University President Steven Knapp, jetted to China this week for talks with higher education and business leaders as GW looks to gain influence in the economic superpower.

The trip will send the GW delegation to the Fortune Global Forum, an elite business conference that will host the Chinese vice premier and top CEOs in the southwestern city Chengdu. The partnership is one of the growing number of ties GW is landing in China, as it has opened up graduate programs, courted students and garnered funds from the country. 

Knapp, along with three deans, three vice presidents and Provost Steven Lerman, will also visit Beijing universities like Renmin University and the University for International Business and Economics – trips that could develop into academic partnerships. The University also works with Renmin to provide a master of science in finance program, which launched two years ago.

Top officials will also participate in discussions on the Chinese economy and higher education system, as Knapp, Lerman, GW School of Business Dean Doug Guthrie and Elliott School of International Affairs Dean Michael Brown discuss U.S.-China relations with Chinese officials at an event in Chengdu.

The University signaled further interest in China by appointing GW School of Business Dean Doug Guthrie as vice president for China operations, bumping the young administrator up to one of the University’s top ranks. GW will also welcome a class of international freshmen that is highly concentrated in Chinese students, with 40 percent of the foreign population coming from the country.

The University pulled in $109 million from international students overall in 2011-2012, by far the most of any D.C. university, according to a report by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Globalizing GW is one of the central tenets of the University’s decade-long strategic plan, as it looks to double the number of international students.