"Universities are neither academies of science nor enterprises. We should not ignore the undergraduate education because of emphasis on academic research. Instead, undergraduate education should be more highlighted than before. ”

"I hope the students who are going to attend SYSU can have determination on three points. First, be a person with humanistic feelings no matter what his major field of study is. Second, be competitive enough to stride freely in the world in future. Third, be a talent with strong comprehensive quality.”

Since came back to mainland from Britain in 1996, President Xu Ningsheng has served SYSU in different positions, including professor, dean of school, the director of state key laboratory and the president.

"If universities fail to make enough efforts on studies, they will lose their meaning of existence.” In President Xu Ningsheng’s opinion, if Chinese universities want to ascend into the world-class universities, they must address the problems existing in undergraduate education.