Lin Jianhua, the President of Peking University, delivered a keynote speech on the topic of Competition and Collaboration – Beijing’s Universities at the Nexus of the Asian Century on the last day of THE Asia Universities Summit 2018 at SUSTech. President Lin presented on what it is to be and how to be a first-class university, by expounding on the examples of Peking University.

“Beijing is undergoing a transition. It’s a transition from an industrialized city to a real capital city,” said Lin as he illustrated the transformation of Beijing in the past five years. He pointed out that the development of the city is closely bound up with the geographic location, scientific equipment, research projects and future plans.

“In the future, Beijing should be the political, cultural and international exchange center as well as innovative center,” said Lin, reiterating that Peking University shall be heavily involved in the development of the city of Beijing.

What is a first-class university? Lin has answered this thought-provoking question in his speech. He believed that in China, a first-class university should be based on Chinese culture, solve Chinese issues, and boost the development of the country.

As Lin put it, “We are not only to be a first-class university, but also the university with Chinese characteristics.”

Peking University was the first national comprehensive university in China tackling excellent disciplines such as science, engineering, social science and medicine. In the Times Higher Education Asia University Ranking 2018, it received the rank of 27th.

“Due to the increase of research funding and university system reform, Peking University maintains a stable and rapid development, “said Lin.

He also talked about the current comprehensive university reform in Peking University. “For PKU, the reform is primarily in education, as well as in the academic and personnel systems. We are undergoing the transforming from a traditional personnel system to a new tenure-track system.” noted Lin. 

According to the data, Asia takes up 77% of global economy. It shows that Asia has played a more and more important role in the global economic development. Lin indicated that Asian universities has made great contributions in this dynamic change and to face challenges, universities from all over the world should have closer collaborations.

Finally, Lin underlined the significance of One Belt One Road for Chinese universities, which has brought opportunities for Chinese academics to communicate with the world.