From September 2 to 8, the 2019 China-UK University Rugby Friendship Week was held in the UK. At the invitation of University of Portsmouth (UOP), XMU Rugby team was elected by the Federation of University Sports of China to participate in friendly matches with UK teams on behalf of China. The delegation was led by Vice President Deng Zhaohui. Xia Jianhui, Education Counselor at China's Embassy in the UK and Bob Nichol, Vice-Chancellor of UOP attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the Rugby Friendship Week. In his speech, Xia expressed the hope that through the event of sports exchanges between the two universities, the cities of Xiamen and Portsmouth would be further connected. During the Rugby Friendship Week, the XMU Rugby delegation also paid a visit to the Twickenham Stadium, the largest dedicated rugby union venue in the world and the headquarters of the Rugby Football Union (RFU).