On the afternoon of January 10, Xu Qin, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, Secretary of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee and Mayor of Shenzhen, met Prof. Chen Gang, Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the Shenzhen Civil Center. Chen visited the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) for cooperation discussion. Xu pledged to support MIT-SUSTech cooperation and make a positive contribution to MIT-SUSTech exchange, and the exchange between Boston and Shenzhen. Wu Yihuan, Vice Mayor of Shenzhen; Li Tingzhong, Secretary General and Director of the General Office of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government; Chairperson of University Council Guo Yurong, President Chen Shiyi and Chief Operating Officer Lu Chun of SUSTech were present.

On behalf of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee and the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, Xu Qin extended his warm welcome to Prof. Chen Gang. Shenzhen attaches great importance to work with prestigious domestic and foreign universities to promote the open, globalized and specialized development of higher education, and provide important support for Shenzhen to implement the strategy of innovation-driven development, he said. In various ways, Shenzhen has promoted its exchanges with different countries, regions and entities, including universities. Chen’s visit to Shenzhen is of great significance to promoting MIT-SUSTech cooperation and the globalization of SUSTech. The municipal committee and government will support the two sides in further cementing their cooperation.

The municipal committee and government fully recognize SUSTech’s new educational progress, said Xu, expecting SUSTech to further cement its cooperation with foreign universities, improve teaching quality, further establish a high-level faculty and develop some more advantageous disciplines, so as to meet the needs of economic and social development, and the future development of Shenzhen and China.

Chen Gang thanked Xu for his meeting and support for MIT-SUSTech cooperation. He said he was impressed by the achievements of Shenzhen and SUSTech. The visit to SUSTech and Shenzhen left a deep and pleasant impression on the 12 professors from the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering. With the exchange and cooperation with Shenzhen and SUSTech as a good beginning, he expected the two sides to explore cooperation in fields such as research, production-learning-research integration and course teaching, to make science and education serve social and economic development. He believed that the MIT-SUSTech cooperation will play a model role in driving the social and economic development of Shenzhen through higher education.

In November 2016, a delegation led by Chen Shiyi visited MIT, holding an in-depth discussion with Richard Lester, Associate Provost for International Activities; as well as heads of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Sloan School of Management about research and teaching cooperation between SUSTech and MIT in fields such as engineering, business, innovation and entrepreneurship practice and cooperation, as well as other programs. During the visit, Chen introduced SUSTech’s educational concept and Shenzhen’s favorable environment. The two sides agreed on cementing their relationship, deepening and extending cooperation in related fields.

From January 6 to 7, 2017, a delegation of 12 members led by Chen Gang visited SUSTech to discuss cooperation in fields such as intelligent robot, 3D printing, advanced manufacturing, environmental engineering and quantum computing. The visit of Chen and the other 11 scholars from MIT will further promote and deepen MIT-SUSTech cooperation.
Liang Yongsheng, Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Committee of Shenzhen Municipality; Tang Lixia, Director of the Shenzhen Foreign Affairs Office and Xu Jianling, Deputy Director-General of the Shenzhen Education Bureau attended the meeting.

Correspondent: Gu Hua/ Office of Global Engagement

Li Xu/photo

Wang Ziyi/editor

Proofread by: Jeremy Welburn