President Qiu Yong visits Hong Kong to promote the implementation of Tsinghua’s “Global Strategy”
From April 13th to 14th, President Qiu Yong and Vice President and Provost Yang Bin of Tsinghua University led a delegation to visit Hong Kong, achieving a series of remarkable results: meeting with Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR); attending the Asian University Alliance (AUA) Summit 2019 and the AUA Presidents Forum, on which President Qiu Yong was re-elected as President of AUA and the AUA Secretariat was to be permanently hosted by Tsinghua University; visiting the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and signing a cooperation agreement between the two universities; celebrating the coming 108th Anniversary of Tsinghua University with representatives of Hong Kong alumni. This series of activities highlighted Tsinghua’s substantial progress in advancing its global strategy.
On April 13th, Qiu Yong and Yang Bin met with Carrie Lam at the Hong Kong Government House. During their discussion, Carrie Lam emphasized her strong support of Tsinghua in its aim to strengthen overall cooperation with Hong Kong universities in terms of talent cultivation, research and innovation.
Carrie Lam also met with the presidents of all member universities of the AUA. She noted that the AUA has provided an effective platform for the member universities to carry out various forms of professional exchanges, which will help improve the overall quality of higher education and scientific and technological innovation in Asia.
President Qiu Yong thanked Carrie Lam for her recognition of the AUA and her support for the development of Tsinghua University. He reviewed the important achievements of the implementation of its global strategy and the measures taken to promote the innovation and entrepreneurship education among students, hoping to further deepen cooperation with Hong Kong and build a platform to promote innovation and support the development of the young talents.
On April 14th, Carrie Lam witnessed the signing of a memorandum of strategic partnership between Tsinghua University and the HKUST which took place at HKUST. President Qiu Yong and President Wei Shyy of the HKUST signed the MOU on behalf of the two universities. According to the agreement, the two universities will jointly train top-notch innovative talents with an international perspective. The two sides will strengthen cooperation in talent cultivation, faculty exchanges, research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
From April 13th to 14th, the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Summit 2019 was held in Hong Kong. At the AUA Board Meeting, Tsinghua University was unanimously re-elected as AUA Presidency for 2020-2023, with Tsinghua President Qiu Yong re-elected as President of AUA. The Board also unanimously voted for the AUA Secretariat to be permanently hosted by Tsinghua University. On the meeting, President Qiu Yong delivered the 2019 AUA annual report Asian Higher Education Outlooks: Education Innovation.
As the President of the AUA, President Qiu Yong reviewed the key work of the AUA from 2018 to 2019. He expressed his thanks to all the member universities for their strong support and active involvement and the Board for its trust in Tsinghua University and himself. He said that Tsinghua University will continue to work closely with other member universities to build AUA towards bigger success, promote the development of the AUA and achieves further development and greater influence.
“The AUA is becoming a wonderful platform that benefits every member university. Every step of progress was achieved with the efforts and support from member universities. Let’s continue the team spirit and expect an even better year for the AUA,” said President Qiu.
On April 14th, as an important part of the AUA Summit 2019, the AUA Presidents Forum was held at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), attended the AUA Presidents Forum and delivered a keynote speech. President Qiu Yong of Tsinghua University, and President Wei Shyy of HKUST addressed the forum. Presidents and delegates of the 15 member universities of the Asian University Alliance (AUA) held in-depth discussions on topics such as the “Roles of Universities in the Sustainability Agenda” and “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: Asian Perspectives on Technological Stewardship and Higher Education” to jointly explore the development of higher education in Asia. Vice President and Provost of Tsinghua University Yang Bin and Vice‐President for Institutional Advancement of HKUST Sabrina Lin attended the forum.
On the evening of April 14th, which happened to be the 108th anniversary of Tsinghua University, President Qiu Yong and Vice President Yang Bin met with nearly 50 alumni from Hong Kong to celebrate the 108th anniversary of their alma mater. President Qiu Yong extended his congratulations to the Tsinghua alumni in Hong Kong and hoped that they would have greater development in their own careers, and make greater contributions to the development of Hong Kong.
Writer: Angela Hua
Editors: Guo Lili, John Olbrich
