Dear freshman, parents, guests, colleagues, comrades, and friends:
Good morning!
Today, we gather here, to hold a grand opening ceremony of the SUSTC 2015-2016 school year. First of all, on behalf of the SUSTC Party committee, I would like to express our hearty congratulations and warm welcome to the 935 new students who enrolled in SUSTC by virtue of their talent and effort! I also want to express sincere gratitude to the teachers and parents who carefully cultivated you! Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank all the leaders, guests and media friends, thank you for your support, understanding and attention to SUSTC all the time!
Students!
Choosing this university is also choosing this city. Shenzhen Special Economic Zone has become a modern metropolis from a small border town in just the past 35 years, and has created a miracle in the worldwide industrialization, modernization and urbanization development. Shenzhen owes its success to the reform and opening-up policy of our Party and the country, the strong leadership of the municipal CPC committee and municipal government, as well as the struggle and dedication of all the citizens and people who came to Shenzhen. This is a city that leads trends, makes people proud, and makes itself famous for the spirit of reform and innovation. The city also has various titles such as the city of immigrants, the city of innovation, design, etc, all of which reflect the unique advantages of Shenzhen. Over the next few years, you will live in the city, and experience the great charm of the city.
Shenzhen’s development has to take root in the local higher education as the support. Owning a world class university is the city’s dream. Since 2007, Shenzhen has been comprehensively promoting the construction of a modern, international, innovative city, and at a critical moment during this period, Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, and municipal government took a broad and long-term view, understood the situation, from the city’s future development strategy perspective, and decided to establish the SUSTC by the power of the whole city. SUSTC was born in a reform and opening-up city, shouldering the great mission of blazing a trail for China’s higher education reform, serving national and local economic developments, and providing technical, intellectual, and innovative strategic support for Shenzhen’s development.
Students!
Compared with century-old schools, SUSTC has a short history of just five years. But in these five years, SUSTC achieved rapid development and won attention and praise from domestic and foreign counterparts by the innovative concept and school-running mode.
This is a university with high aspirations and glorious missions. SUSTC’s school-running orientation is to make full use of the advanced ideas and successful experience of world-class universities. At the beginning of preparation for school establishment, we referred to California Institute of Technology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a group of internationally renowned research universities as the educational reference targets. We want to develop SUSTC into an international high-level research university that fully meets international standards in aspect of talents training mode and modern university system construction, a university that features “innovation, cutting edge, high class, and internationalization”, with the mission of cultivating outstanding talents and promoting industry-university-research cooperation. Over the past few years, centering on this educational school-running goal, SUSTC has deepened its root in Shenzhen, expanded its vision to the globe, and aimed at building a first-class, high-end university. We have achieved obvious improvement in aspects such as the construction of disciplines and majors as well as the introduction of first-class academic leaders.
This is a university that has distinctive characteristics and advocates innovation. Located in the pioneering city of reform and opening up, SUSTC adheres to the Shenzhen spirit of daring to break through and try, and being enthusiastic and pressing, firmly grasps the international cutting-edge trends, complies with the requirements of development of higher education, identifies the pulse of city development, and takes development and reform as the foundation of school establishment, basis for success; under the trustee council’s management system, the leadership of the Party committee of president accountability system, college system, small class system, tutorial system and international education and so on, SUSTC has made active attempts and exploration, gradually forming SUSTC’s school-running characteristics, and expanding the school’s influence at home and abroad.
This is an entrepreneurial university, which coheres the painstaking effort and sweat of all the faculty members, students and staff. Since the Ministry of Education approved and prepared to officially start the construction work of the SUSTC in December 2010, the entrepreneurs of SUSTC have successfully accomplished their missions, and great achievements have been made in the school’s teaching and research , teacher introduction, enrollment reform, personnel training, international cooperation in school running and campus building. Today, we welcome 935 new students, and the number of students in SUSTC has now exceeded 2100. Nowadays, a beautiful SUSTC campus has been erected in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone; more than 3000 faculty members and students gather in SUSTC, working conscientiously together for the common dream of building a world-class university. As we look back at the school founding history, it’s not difficult to see that the rapid unconventional and leapfrog development of SUSTC is inseparable from the strong support of the Ministry of Education, Provincial Department of Education, the Municipal Government and the trustee council, so it is due to these parties who unite forces to jointly promote Chinese higher education reform and practice; this is also due to the entrepreneurs of SUSTC, who carry a common dream to work hard with a pioneering spirit and selfless dedication. Today, all new students’ joining in also injected fresh blood into SUSTC. You will also be the SUSTC’s entrepreneurs!
Students!
When General Secretary Xi Jinping had an informal discussion with the teachers and students in Peking University on May 4 last year, he clearly said that young students, under the Party’s leadership, should have the courage to be the driver, pioneer, and devotee at the frontline of our times, and shoulder the hefty historical responsibility entrusted by the party and people with persistent belief, good moral character, rich knowledge and excellent skills, and make arduous efforts to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese Ethnic Peoples. In accordance with the requirements of the General Secretary, SUSTC will always adhere to the socialist orientation for school running, adhere to the educational policy of the Party, and cultivate college students as the qualified builders and successors of socialist cause. Taking this opportunity, I’d like to voice some of my hopes for you as encouragement.
First, study hard, and work hard to seek knowledge. “Without aspiration, you cannot achieve academic study, and without effort, you cannot increase wisdom.” We hope you will cherish your youthful time, set up high aspirations, think of family-country ideal, adapt to the teaching way and the research learning atmosphere of SUSTC as soon as possible, keep a foothold on the discipline frontier and major needs of the country, aim at the frontier science and technology in the world and development trends, closely follow the latest knowledge and technological achievements in the field of science and technology, strive to forge professional skills, be diligent in learning, and cultivate international perspective, to lay a solid foundation for future employment or further study.
Second, you must have a tempered character, and make efforts to cultivate virtue. “The one who cultivates great virtue can only achieve great cause”. University is an important stage for students to improve their character and virtue of patience, form healthy personality, build up the correct world view, view of life, and values. We need to earnestly practice the good socialist core value concept, learn to care about the world, the country, the community, and the people, train to have a strong sense of social responsibility, comprehensively improve our own mortal qualities, and support the right way of life and career of every student with excellent character.
Third, be bold in exploration and innovation. Xi Jinping, the general secretary, said, “innovation is the spirit of a nation’s progress, the inexhaustible motive force for the prosperity of a country.” You students are young, and energetic, you have creative enthusiasm and the spirit of exploration. SUSTC is committed to developing the creative spirit and the ability of critical thinking of each student, and we hope you can stick to the truth and be bold in exploration, while paying attention to cultivating and improving your operational ability and social practice ability.
Fourth, start with small things, and develop a good life and learning habits. “The difficult thing must be done from the easy one, the big thing must be done from the small one in the world.” After arriving here, students should develop good habits at the beginning, keep early hours and take regular exercise for physical fitness and live a healthy life; at the same time, you should improve personal mental adaptive ability and tolerance, and temper firm and indomitable mentality. I hope you can serve our country and society for 50 years by virtue of your good physical and mental health,!
Dear Colleagues!
Tomorrow is the thirty-first Teacher’s Day. Here, I would like to extend my holiday congratulations and greetings to the faculty and staff on behalf of SUSTC! Over the past few years, we have carried forward the fighting spirit to overcome difficulties, make concerted efforts, and made painstaking efforts in teaching and educating people and the development of SUSTC. I hope that all the staff will continue to maintain high enthusiasm, do an even better job, and create new achievements in teaching and researching, administration, logistics support services, campus construction and other aspects!
Thank you!
