2016 University Presidents’ Forum was Held in SJTU
On April 7th, 2016 World's First-class University Presidents' Forum was held in Shanghai, which was undertaken by SJTU. The world's famous universities' presidents gathered together, talking about the universities' missions and responsibilities in the era of innovation-driven development. Du Zhanyuan, the Vice Minister of Education, Weng Tiehui, the Vice Mayer of Shanghai, and Jiang Sixian, the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and Party Secretary of SJTU attended the forum and delivered speeches. Zhang Jie, President of SJTU made a keynote report. The representatives from Chinese first 9 universities of "985 Project" (C9), The Russell Group, League of European Research Universities (LERU) and Australian Group of Eight (Go8) and the presidents of over 30 first-class universities at home and abroad attended the meeting, discussing about "the construction of universities' innovation capacity and the strategy of innovation-driven development".
On behalf of SJTU, Jiang Sixian made a welcome speech, noting that on the background that the whole world entered the era of innovation-driven development, working alone cannot provide us with major innovations, and colleges and universities should not only get out of the ivory tower and into the synergy creation of production, learning and research, but also vigorously carry out all-round international cooperation.
Weng Tiehui, the Vice Mayer of Shanghai said in his speech that the first-class universities shouldered the sacred missions of promoting the progress of human beings, the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the people; and top discipline was the core of the world-class university. The development of universities should be focused on subjects' constructions, trying to form the peak of subjects' highland.
Du Zhanyuan, the Vice Minister of Education said in his speech that China was a big country of higher education but not a power of higher education and had a certain gap with world's higher education powers in terms of education and teaching philosophy, talents training model, resource allocation and structural layout and so on.
On October, 2015, the Chinese government printed and distributed "The overall plan of coordinated promotion on the construction of world-class universities and top disciplines". At present, the development of Chinese higher education's reform, especially the construction of the first-class universities and the first-class subjects, is in an important period of strategic opportunities when great accomplishments can be made.
Zhang Jie made a keynote report named "challenge and reform-the responsibility of innovative university".
During the forum, China 9 League adding three universities in Hongkong (H3) signed the letter of intent of "the Shanghai Declaration" with Australian Group of Eight, League of European Research Universities and English Russell Group, motivating international innovative universities to build closer and more practical cooperative relationship with more open attitude and starting a new page of the construction of the first-class innovative universities and the development of human society.
Translated by Wang Ying Reviewed by Wang Bingyu