On April 7, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) held its first meeting to review its development history. SUSTech Chairperson Yurong GUO led the meeting and was joined by former Shenzhen Education Bureau deputy director Beihan LIANG, former SUSTech Preparatory Office Director Jianling XU and Shenzhen Education Bureau deputy director Huiqiong WU.

Chairperson Yurong GUO pointed out that December 2020 would mark ten years since the Ministry of Education agreed that SUSTech could prepare for its establishment. To commemorate this, SUSTech would talk to those that had helped build SUSTech. It aims to recognize the thousands from all walks of life who have contributed to the development of SUSTech.

The series of events would reflect on SUSTech’s original mission and clarify its future direction. It would also operate as a platform to display its achievements throughout this decade of development and exploration of reform and innovation. The activities through this period will exhibit examples for exploring a modern university system, following SUSTech’s role as a pilot for reform and innovation of China’s higher education sector, while exploring innovative talent training models.

As part of the meeting, Beihan LIANG, Jianlaing XU, and Huiqiong WU reflected on the developmental years of SUSTech. They spoke fondly of their recollections of the original proposal that clearly showed the need to build a university that was fundamentally intertwined with the city’s genes. They all spoke proudly of SUSTech’s achievements this decade and anticipated many more in the coming decades.