Top universities convene at XJTU

By Yuan Yue (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-10-16 11:50

Representatives from China’s top universities gathered at Xi’an Jiaotong University on October 9 to discuss education reform and the training of innovative personnel.

“This meeting aims to deliberate on the academic power and administrative power of the university,” said Zheng Nanning, president of Xi’an Jiaotong University. “It is a relevant as well as an urgent issue.”

Education experts from all over China shared opinions about how to build a platform for all the elite universities in China in order to learn from each others’ strategies, and to bring education in the country to a higher level.

Also attending the meeting were executive leaders from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Chinese University of Science and Technology and Harbin Institute of Technology.

The nine renowned universities -- also known as C9 -- have agreed to strengthen cooperation and exchanges, and to make full use of each others’ teaching resources, including joint degree programs, C9-Summer schools, network teachings, and student exchange programs.

The meeting echoed what Premier Wen Jiabao said at a conference before National Day: “to understand the essence of education from a humanistic height”.

“Now is the perfect time to give impetus to China’s higher education,” said Yang Wei, president of Zhejiang University.