SUSTech also launched a high level talent recruitment campaign at UQ, and dozens of scholars and experts wished to visit SUSTech soon after they submitting the applications after the event.

During his visit, President Chen was warmly welcomed by the Vice-Chancellor and President Peter Høj, as well as Deputy Vice-Chancellor Iain Watson, Pankaj Sah, Director of the Queensland Brain Institute, Ian Brereton, Director of the the Centre for Advanced Imaging, Stephan Riek, Deputy Dean of the Graduate School, Michael Brunig, Head of School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Chen Ping, Director of Confucius Institute and Jessica Gallagher, Director of the Global Engagement Office, who all attended the meeting and participated in the bilateral discussions. 

Lu Chun, Associate Vice President for International Affairs and Hou Shengtao, director of the Office of Global Engagement, accompanied President Chen on his visit.

In his opening speech, President Peter Høj welcomed President Chen once again to the University of Queensland. He said that since President Chen’s visit to the university in July 2015 had already laid the foundation for the two universities to conduct many exchange visits and had achieved positive results.

The two leaders have had frequent interactions and academic exchanges have become increasingly common in the recent year.

Vice-Chancellor Høj added that he was pleased to see the University of Queensland and SUSTech actively carrying out exchanges and cooperation and had already achieved initial results, so he looked forward to discussing how to build closer ties with Shenzhen and SUSTech.

 The two sides then engaged in in-depth exchanges on particular topics including the training for graduate students, exchange of undergraduates and joint research. 

It is the second time this year that both leaders meet, following the participation of President Peter Høj in the 2017 IAC meeting.

After the meeting, President Chen and Vice-Chancellor Høj signed a Letter of Intent at the University of Queensland. The Letter seeks to promote undergraduate and graduate education cooperation and as well as joint scientific research projects

The Letter will extend the previous partnership signed between the two organizations in October 2016, where they had signed a co-supervision agreement for doctoral students to promote post-graduate education between the two universities.

During the visit, the SUSTech delegation gave a keynote speech at the University of Queensland, introducing key facts and figures about the university and personnel policy information, as well as the talent recruitment system in front of approximately 80 students and scholars. After the presentation, more than a dozen participants submitted their resumes on the spot and hoped to visit SUSTech in the near future to learn more about the university.

On the morning of November 22, the SUSTech delegation visited Queensland Brain Institute and the Centre for Advanced Imaging at the University of Queensland. Pankaj Sah, director of the Queensland Brain Institute and Ian Brereton, director of Centre for Advanced Imaging, welcomed the visitors and discussed with them how to further promote neuroscience and related disciplines in the two universities.

During his visit to Australia, at the invitation of the Chinese Consulate General in Brisbane, President Chen visited Xu Jie, the Chinese Consul General of Brisbane. Deputy Consulate General Zhou Li and Consulate of Education Liu Shaohua also attended the meeting. Xu Jie welcomed President Chen and his delegation to Brisbane and gave them an introductory talk on the the Consulate’s role in the region. He appreciated the educational philosophy of SUSTech and the university’s stunning achievement in just a few years impressed him a lot. In the end, he hoped that the Consulate-General in Brisbane would further facilitate the scientific and educational cooperation between SUSTech and UQ.