On December 18, Annual Presidents Meeting on Building World-Class Universities and Annual Presidents Forum, was held at Fudan University. Presidents and vice presidents from 13 universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University, University of Science and Technology of China, Xi’an Jiaotong University, University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and University of Macau, gathered in Shanghai to jointly discuss how to build world-class universities with Chinese characteristics and serve and support Chinese modernization.
Tan Zhemin, President of Nanjing University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered a speech titled "Firmly Establish the Orientation of Serving the Country, and Advance Organized Scientific Research." He stated that strengthening organized scientific research based on national needs is a key approach to coping with international competition and supporting the construction of a strong nation. As an important component of the nation’s strategic scientific and educational strength, high-level research universities should focus on promoting organized scientific research, achieving resonance between serving national strategic needs and their own high-quality development. He called on the alliance universities to deepen cooperation, join hands and move forward together, jointly explore new paths for organized scientific research to serve national needs, and contribute strength to accelerating the construction of a strong nation.
During the conference, the roundtable meeting of the China University Presidents' Association was also held, attended by leaders from member universities. The "Series Seminar on First-Class University Construction" held its first session in March 2003, and has been held annually since, with hosting universities rotating. This year's seminar was hosted by Fudan University, and the next seminar will be hosted by the University of Hong Kong.
