On August 29th, 2015, President Chen Shiyi was invited to give a lecture of “Shenzhen Civil Culture Forum”, describing the relationship between first-class universities and first-class cities, to which more than three hundred citizens listened in Shenzhen Library.

During the one-and-half-hour report, President Chen Shiyi stated the relationship between first-class universities and first-class cities, analyzed successful experiences of world-class universities with great-leap-forward development in a short term, discussed how Shenzhen establishes world-class universities, and reported the development strategy of the building of world-class university by SUSTC to citizens through analysis on first-class universities and first-class cities and data comparison. In activity, Principal Chen Shiyi interacted with citizens and honored guests warmly. The on-site laughter and applause presented the eager expectation of citizens in Shenzhen to world-class universities. 

Chen Shiyi said that as SUSTC principal who has taken office for more than half a year, at the same time of constructing SUSTC with all his effort, he is also thinking about the contribution to the sustainable development of Shenzhen. He pointed out that a first-class university is a shiny card of a first-class city. A university can prosper a city. Talent cultivation, scientific research, community service and culture inheritance and innovation of a university can integrate it with the city where it is located closely. In the report, Chen Shiyi firstly displayed the development of mutual interaction and fusion between world-class universities and world-class cities, and demonstrated the contribution of universities to the development of cities horizontally. In addition, from the view of historical development, the interaction and fusion of universities and cities has experienced from the “Independence and Partition” of the medieval area to the current stage of “universities become the dynamic source of cities’ development, universities generate cities and the promotion of a city’s civilization cannot be without a university”.

Chen Shiyi indicated that universities and cities are interactive. Cities act on universities through factors like financial support, material basis, environment construction, public services, and so on; universities react upon cities through talents gathering and cultivation, innovative technology, achievement transformation, community service, culture leading, provision of intellectual support, shaping of city spirit, promotion of urban quality, etc. So to say, cities cultivate universities, while universities boost the guidance to cities. The inner connection between universities and cities and respective advantages promote unprecedented compactness of their interaction and penetration. A relationship of dependence, harmonious coexistence and mutual promotion are presented between universities and cities.

Additionally, Chen Shiyi also pointed out that some cities in Asian-Pacific region start to establish world-class universities in recent 30 years. In this year, the releasing of the world’s top 50 young universities shows that most of the universities are in Asian-Pacifica region. Meanwhile, it can be seen that the status of these cities improves continuously in the international competitiveness. The successful experience of the rapid rising of colleges and universities in Asian-Pacific region is worth learning; the energetic investment by government, abundant financial support and modern university system are the material basis and basic security for building world-class universities; specific location, tight interaction of urban innovation system, serving for the economic development of society and technical demand are key points of rapid rising.

Through the comparative data of world-class universities and cities, Chen Shiyi pointed out that there also has gap of higher education between Shenzhen and other international metropolises. However, the development awareness of Shenzhen higher education awakens intensively. At present, the GDP gross of Shenzhen is close to that of Hong Kong. Comprehensive competitiveness of Shenzhen takes first place in China; the city innovation system taking enterprise as lead and market as main body has been established, so it is likely that the latercomer surpasses the former. Therefore, he suggested that Shenzhen should further increase input into education, especially into higher education; increase input into education according to the support to the best university by the country, to promote the rapid rising of high-level research universities in Shenzhen; attract high-level international talents with international competitiveness and institutional advantage according to world-class universities; conduct integrative layout of subjects in the light of the most innovative international cities, to construct abundant basic subjects, powerful applied subjects and special interdisciplines and interdisciplinary subjects, and to promote front-end innovation and capability of industrialization. Citizens shall consider the long-term development of regions while supporting the development of higher education, and give more patience.

In the forum, Principal Chen Shiyi introduced SUSTC’s development orientation, mission and objective, innovation of system and mechanism and training features for students, especially the future disciplinary development planning to citizens in detail. He pointed out that SUSTC can initiate a pattern of century development of universities with the support and expectation of municipal Party committee and government as well as citizens, industry and innovation environments of Shenzhen and Pearl River Delta region, modern university system, talent teams, campus pattern, clear location and discipline planning, teams with executive ability, as well as the popularity and influence formed since its foundation. SUSTC will focus on technological frontier of the world, to improve basic research competitiveness; focus on national significant demand, to improve the competitiveness of applied basic research; focus on the technological development of Shenzhen, to improve competitiveness of applied research. SUSTC promotes its development continuously and makes irreplaceable contribution to the construction of modern and international innovative city of Shenzhen by matching subject system construction and innovation system of Shenzhen.

Chen Shiyi is communicating with representatives of honored guests, citizens and students.

Brief Introduction to “Shenzhen Civil Culture Forum”

“Shenzhen Civil Culture Forum” is a large non-profit cultural activity in Shenzhen. Since it was released ten years ago, it has always kept serving for the general public in Shenzhen with the purpose of “promoting humanistic spirit, developing public culture, enriching citizens’ life and promoting urban quality”.