THE Asia Universities Summit 2018 came to a successful close on 7th February, 2018. On the last day of the summit, delegates held deeper and more profound discussions about the future mission of higher education. Lin Jianhua, the President of Peking University, and Chen Shiyi, the President of SUSTech attended the closing ceremony.

President Chen Shiyi made the closing remarks, expressing his sincere thanks to all the participants, staff and sponsors. “It’s been a great honor for SUSTech to hold this summit and I believe all of us will keep these amazing three days in mind in future”, said Chen. He also hoped that the delegates could visit Shenzhen again in the future to further experience the charisma of the city.

On the final day of the summit, delegates continued exploring and discussing the relationship between universities, cities and industry. A panel including Sir Keith Burnett, the vice-chancellor of University of Sheffield, Margaret Gardner, the president and vice-chancellor of Monash University, Sung-Chul Shin, the president of KAIST, and Timothy W. Tong, the president of Hong Kong Polytechnic University discussed the role of universities in the upcoming fourth industrial revolution.

“Universities are our primary vehicle to educate people with new knowledge, insight and technique.” as Alice Gast, the President of Imperial College London put it in her keynote speech on pursuing the endless frontier in the era of AlphaGo. She emphasized that fundamental research, the responsibility to guide students, collaboration and having a global vision are basic values for universities in this age.

While discussing research universities in the 21st century,  Jeffrey S. Lehman,  the vice-chancellor of New York University Shanghai, Menahem Ben-Sasson, the chancellor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Amit Chakma, the president and vice-chancellor of Western University, C. Raj Kumar, the vice-chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University and Paul KH Tam, the acting president and vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong shared with the audience their perspectives on how to break down boundaries under the new trends within globalization.

Lin Jianhua, the President of Peking University, presented the keynote speech about what it is to be and how to be a first-class university by expounding the examples of Peking University. Lin pointed out that as Asia is very dynamic region universities should collaborate more with other Asian universities. “We should bring students together to share their ideas” said Lin.

The full results of the ‘Times Higher Education 2018 Asian University Rankings’ were reported on the last day of the summit. The list covers 359 research universities from 25 Asian countries and regions. On the list, 101 Chinese universities entered the ranking, including 63 universities from mainland China, 6 Hong Kong universities, 1 Macau university and 31 Taiwanese universities. Moreover, 5 Chinese universities were ranked in the top 10 of the Asian rankings. 

During the three-days summit, the delegates were impressed by the scenery of SUSTech, as well as the warm and thoughtful work of the volunteer team members consisting of 58 SUSTech students. The success of the summit also reflects the potential of SUSTech towards becoming a globally influential university.