On January 22nd, Tsinghua President Qiu Yong led a delegation to Davos, Switzerland, the first of their visits overseas in 2018. They attended a series of multilateral and bilateral exchanges in three days, negotiating cooperation with leaders of political, academic and business communities as well as international organizations, and opening up a new initiative for the implementation of Tsinghua’s Global Strategy.

On January 23rd, Qiu Yong was invited to attend the opening ceremony of the 48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The theme of this annual meeting was “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”, and a total of 70 heads of state and government and 45 leaders of international organizations participated in the meeting. Liu He, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and Director of the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group Office, attended the meeting on behalf of China. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the opening speech.

Qiu Yong noted in an interview with the media after the opening ceremony that the contemporary world is facing increasingly severe challenges, and to promote the construction of a community for a shared future calls for all states to make concerted efforts; the significance of international cooperation has never been so prominent. Tsinghua University vigorously promotes the implementation of a global strategy, and strengthens its exchanges with other countries in education, science and technology, and culture, and has achieved remarkable results. Tsinghua has taken full advantage of the international platform offered by the World Economic Forum to plan and implement a series of activities including the Belt and Road Davos Forum, and the “Future of Sustainable Development” high-level roundtable, which assemble global wisdom, present Tsinghua’s voice, and put across Tsinghua’s contribution to the construction of a community for a shared future.

The Geneva Tsinghua Initiative Advisory Board on Sustainable Development  held their first meeting in Davos.

In response to the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in support of China’s national medium and long-term development planning, Tsinghua University has been making continued efforts towards the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the establishment of a SDG comprehensive strategic partnership with the University of Geneva to jointly promote the development of SDGs. In January 2017, following the signing of a cooperation agreement for sustainable development witnessed by the heads of the two states, the two universities jointly established a sustainable development center, and conducted a series of cooperation in fields such as research, joint training, summer courses, and exchanges of teachers and students, thereby achieving a great deal. At the same time, the two universities actively organized the Geneva Tsinghua Initiative Advisory Board  on Sustainable Development by leveraging their extensive cooperation with UN institutions, international organizations, and the academic community. 

On the afternoon of January 24th, the inaugural meeting of Geneva Tsinghua Initiative Advisory Board on Sustainable Development was held in Davos.  Tsinghua President Qiu Yong, President of the University of Geneva Yves Flueckiger, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research Nikhil Seth, former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, Dean of the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University Xue Lan, and Dean of the School of Social Sciences of the University of Geneva Bernard Debarbieux attended the meeting as advisory board members.

Qiu Yong and President Flueckiger addressed the meeting. They thanked the advisory board members for their support for the cooperation between the two universities for sustainable development and hoped all members would join hands to promote the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development. The members in the meeting focused on how the advisory committee could play a better role in the cooperation between the two universities on SDGs, and discussed the overall strategy, main direction and key projects for further cooperation.

Photo: Qiu Yong attends the “United in Diversity” Leaders Roundtable co-hosted by Tsinghua.

To achieve sustainable development goals, and set up a government-industry-learning-research communication and cooperation platform, Tsinghua University, in conjunction with the International Chamber of Commerce, the United in Diversity Foundation (UID) and the Giti Group, held the “United in Diversity” Leaders Roundtable. 50 guests were invited to attend the roundtable to jointly discuss policies and actions for promoting SDGs via multilateral cooperation, including Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Indonesian President Envoy and Maritime Minister Luhut B. Pandjaitan, and the Lichtenstein Global Trust Group (LGT) CEO Prince Max von und zu Lichtenstein.

The Global University Leaders Forum is an important event during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. Leaders of the world’s top universities and research institutions are invited to attend the forum each year. On January 24th, Qiu Yong and leaders from 35 universities and research institutions in 13 countries, including the Presidents of the University of Cambridge, Oxford University, Princeton University, Yale University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as leaders of research institutes such as the U.S. National Institute of Health, and the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), were invited to attend the Global University Leaders Forum. The theme of this year’s forum was “Universities and Social Inclusion in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. Participants in the forum held closed-door discussions on this theme and three sub-themes. Qiu Yong noted in his speech in the forum that a university should become a development partner and innovation pacesetter of the community where it is located, and it should be a visionary leader actively contributing to the community. Qiu further shared Tsinghua’s practical experiences and suggestions in relation to this idea with the other guests in the forum.

The President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim and U.S. Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta were invited to attend the forum as special guests. The forum was chaired by Alice Gast, Chairwoman of this forum and President of Imperial College London.

Before the start of the forum, Qiu Yong held a separate talk with President Gast, who introduced the overall situation of the Global University Leaders Forum, thanked Tsinghua University for its support of the forum, introduced the latest developments at Imperial College, and looked forward to working with Tsinghua University in more fields. Qiu Yong noted that Imperial College and Tsinghua University are strategic partners, the two universities have developed an overall pattern of comprehensive cooperation, and major cooperation projects take place very smoothly, laying a good foundation for the continued exploration of deeper and more innovative cooperation patterns. The two parties also discussed the key exchange and cooperation arrangements for 2018.

Qiu Yong met respectively with Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London (upper left), Liu Zhenmin, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General (upper right), Zhao Houlin, Secretary-General of the international Telecommunication Union (lower left), and Kituyi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (lower right).

 “Global Competence” is one of the goals of talent training at Tsinghua University, including international vision, cross-cultural awareness and re-understanding of the Chinese cultural tradition in a global context. In line with this goal, Tsinghua University is expanding its cooperation with international organizations to build a platform for students to improve their comprehensive quality, international vision, scientific spirit and creative ability. During his visit to Davos, Qiu Yong met with a number of leaders of international organizations, including Liu Zhenmin, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Zhao Houlin, Secretary-General of the international Telecommunication Union (lower left), and Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and held in-depth discussions on Tsinghua University’s exchanges and cooperation with the relevant United Nations agencies.

Qiu Yong took a group photo with Tsinghua alumni representatives

During his visit to Davos, Qiu Yong met with some Tsinghua alumni representatives in Switzerland. He briefed them on the important results achieved in 2017 and the key work for 2018, asked them about their work and study, and encouraged them to offer ideas for the development of Tsinghua and contribute to the implementation of Tsinghua’s Global Strategy. 

Editor: Zhu Lvhe

Source: Tsinghua Unviersity News