On November 24, Ministry of Education (MoE) Department of Development Planning, Statistical Information Division Director Li Yanli brought a delegation to Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) to seek out the learned opinion of SUSTech leaders on educational conditions for Chinese education and the revision of higher education in China. SUSTech Acting Vice President Zhang Dongxiao met with the MoE delegation.

The delegation was first taken to the 3D campus construction sand table, before their campus tour took them to the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, the Lynn Library and the Lakeside Residential Colleges. They received a briefing about the development and overall planning of SUSTech.

In the meeting, Acting Vice President Zhang Dongxiao welcomed the MoE delegation to SUSTech, talking about its achievements and development aims within the umbrella of becoming a world-class research university rooted in China. He highlighted the talent pipelines being laid at SUSTech, along with its commitment to serving regional innovation through the construction of technological innovation platforms. Zhang Dongxiao spelt out the importance of properly evaluating research by comparing different systems around the world, using statistics to show the different methodologies. He emphasized the importance of stability in the development of faculty and research settings, while forming a solid foundation in basic education.

Director Li Yanli explained the background to the survey and affirmed the scientific, technological and educational achievements of SUSTech. She pointed out that as a new and innovative university, SUSTech is developing rapidly with outstanding research results that can provide more statistical support on education.

The meeting saw considerable discussion focused on solving new problems in pedagogic practice. Attending experts provided suggestions on how to improve educational statistics and processing.

Guangdong Provincial Department of Education Development Planning Division Director Xie Chunyan said SUSTech is an important poster for higher education in Shenzhen. Its rapid development and outstanding achievements have benefited from its innovative genes and international outlook, and can be used to measure higher education’s contribution to society for more in-depth research.

National Institute of Education Sciences Research Center for Information and Statistics Director Ma Xiaoqiang emphasized the importance of correct education data at the meeting. He believes that the development of innovative universities such as SUSTech should attract great attention and hopes that SUSTech would contribute more to the research work on statistics and educational data processing.

Leaders from several departments across SUSTech presented reports at the meeting, while discussions were also had about the development of statistics-based education.