On July 1st, the Opening Ceremony of the 3rd Annual Conference of the Association of British Chinese Professors (ABCP) & China-UK University Presidents' Forum was held, under the theme of promoting cooperation in science and education between Chinese and British universities, bringing together presidents of Chinese and British universities to explore the development and cooperation of higher education in the post-Covid-19-pandamic period. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the UK. President Gao Song attended the Forum via video and delivered a keynote speech titled “Strengthening China-UK Cooperation and Promoting Innovation-driven Development”.
President Gao Song addresses in the Opening Ceremony of the 3rd Annual Conference of the Association of British Chinese Professors & China-UK University Presidents' Forum (Photo Source: Office of International Cooperation and Exchange)
President Gao Song attends the Opening Ceremony of the 3rd Annual Conference of the Association of British Chinese Professors & China-UK University Presidents' Forum (Photo Source: Sun Chen, Publicity Department)
In his speech, President Gao Song said that located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and at the forefront of China's reform and opening-up, Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) has promoted outward-looking principles in running the university and values international cooperation. He mentioned that, in the past few years, SYSU has been constructing high-level and major science and technology infrastructure as well as innovation platforms that can meet the significant national needs, target the global science frontiers, boost economic and social development, and benefit people's lives and health. They are also important platforms for international cooperation. He said that, at SYSU, we pursue building an academic governance system covering three tiers, namely, university, faculty, and school; explore various forms of hiring in and outside the university; stay focused on student development and help nurture students' power of learning, power of thinking and power of acting; and improve the quality of education development through digitalization. “In the future, we hope that universities in China and the UK will work together to enhance cooperation in science and technology as well as talents training through major innovation platforms, interdisciplinary integration, and education digitalization. We also look forward to building an open and shared cooperation platform to target major global scientific problems, jointly explore science frontiers, offer more solutions to global development, and bring benefits to all,” President Gao Song said.
In recent years, sound cooperation has been carried out between SYSU and British universities, covering a wide range of disciplines in humanities, sciences, medicine and engineering. And fruitful results have been achieved in the cooperation between our schools in medicine and affiliated hospitals and leading British universities.
This Forum was hosted by the University of Birmingham and moderated by Professor Zhao Hua, Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, President of ABCP and Vice Provost of the Brunel University London, and was attended by Professor Max Lu, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey, Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Birmingham, Professor Dame Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, Ms. Vivienne Stern, Director of the Universities UK International (UUKi), Professor Yang Zongkai, President of Wuhan University of Technology and other scholars.
