As part of the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations across China, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) welcomed over 30 members of the media from 16 countries to learn about SUSTech and take part in some delightful Mid-Autumn festivities. The media delegation was invited to SUSTech by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and was joined by SCO officials and senior leaders from SUSTech.

The journalists came from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iran, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Turkey.

The media delegation was given a briefing around the 3D campus construction sand table by Communications and Public Relations Director Zhang Ling and Global Engagement Office Associate Director Li Xu. At a meeting that followed the briefing, Vice-Provost (Global Strategies) Zheng Chunmiao addressed the media delegation, as did School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Vice Dean Shao Liyang, UNESCO-ICHEI Chief of General Affairs Jiang Qingyu, international undergraduate student Vong Sinnarith and postdoctoral fellow Dr Sankhya. Associate Director of the Global Engagement Office Li Xu presided over the meeting.

Prof. Zheng Chunmiao welcomed the delegation and provided more detail about Shenzhen and SUSTech. He specifically highlighted SUSTech’s 6+3+1 comprehensive admissions model, the role that SUSTech plays in the development of Shenzhen, and how SUSTech maintains its small and sophisticated size. Following the meeting, he answered many questions about international student recruitment and research opportunities from the media delegation.

He said that Shenzhen is a city dedicated to technological innovation, with world-renowned enterprises such as Huawei, Tencent and DJI. As a university located in the Greater Bay Area, SUSTech’s mission is to reform China’s higher education.

He said that as a global university, SUSTech has established cooperation with world-class universities. Every year, many graduates go to overseas universities to continue their academic pursuits. “In recent years, with global ranking improved rapidly, SUSTech has developed at a high speed. This is not only the embodiment of what we call Shenzhen Speed but also SUSTech Speed.”

Prof Shao Liyang introduced the School of Innovations and Entrepreneurship and the technology transformation at SUSTech. He said that Shenzhen provides a rich resource advantage to SUSTech in promoting university-industry cooperation and technology transformation.

“SUSTech has established dozens of start-up companies, and has established long-term cooperation with high-tech enterprises to further promote the knowledge and technology commercialization,” said Prof Shao.

Dr. Sankhya, a postdoctoral fellow from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in India, and Vong Sinnarith, an undergraduate student at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering from Cambodia described how SUSTech’s academic resources and first-class faculty attracted them to Shenzhen and SUSTech. “I hope that more students from my hometown will come here to study!”

Following the meeting, the media delegation were taken on a campus tour, where they visited the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center and the SUSTech Core Research Facilities.

After visiting the research platforms, a journalist from India said: “This is a university that has been established for less than ten years. It is full of vitality and stands at the forefront of scientific research.”

A delegate from Sri Lanka added: “This is my first time to China. The academic environment at SUSTech is very good. Students have a high level of participation in university affairs. It must be great to study here.”

The media delegation traveled to the lakeside residential colleges where they made mooncakes with some of the SUSTech students who opted to stay on campus during this festival.

Throughout the trip, the delegation took the chance to interview the faculty, staff, and students of SUSTech. It was an invaluable opportunity for media representatives from these countries to get a better understanding of life at SUSTech.

“SUSTech is wonderful ! I hope that you can become an excellent engineer or a scientist in future. I am looking forward to the bright future of SUSTech,” a delegate from Azerbaijan said to one student journalist.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.