Southeast University celebrated its 120th anniversary on Monday. Gu Xiulian, former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, sent a letter of congratulation. Han Qide, former vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, delivered a video speech. Han is also honorary chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wu Zhenglong, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, delivered a speech at the celebration ceremony. Governor Xu Kunlin and Zhang Yizhen, Chairwoman of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference, attended the meeting.
In his video speech, Han Qide pointed out that Southeast University, as a national key construction university, has made comprehensive promotion of the reform and development of the school by making outstanding achievements in talent training, technological innovation, cultural heritage, and social services to become the backbone of China's higher education.
He hoped that Southeast University will innovate the talent training model, insist on morality and cultivating people, put teaching in a more important position, reform teaching methods, strengthen curriculum construction, and focus on improving students' innovative ability.
He also hopes that Southeast University will strengthen the interdisciplinary integration, give full play to its advantages of combining medicine and engineering, build a platform, improve the system, create an atmosphere, promote the benign interaction of disciplines, and strive to form a new growth point for discipline construction.
He asked the university to carry forward academic democracy, improve the evaluation system, strengthen the construction of academic style and morality, follow the development path of socialist education with Chinese characteristics, and speed up the establishment of a world-class university with distinctive Chinese characteristics.
Wu Zhenglong said that over the past 120 years, Southeast University has served the country and benefited the society, cultivated many scholars and masters, created many scientific and technological precedents, wrote a magnificent chapter in the great process of national development and national rejuvenation, and won historical glory.
The CPC provincial chief said since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Southeast University has adhered to the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, conscientiously implemented the Party's educational policy, and contributed wisdom and strength to the construction of major national projects and the province’s high-quality development.
Wu Zhenglong pointed out that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era through the Party's century-long struggle, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Party, adding that this is a great era, an era in which dreams and great achievements are achieved, an era in which all Chinese sons and daughters are required to work tirelessly, and an era in which Southeast University can make great achievements.
The CPC provincial chief required Southeast University to enhance political stance, gain insight into the decisive significance that the Party has established Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and defined the guiding role of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era from the political height of strengthening the four consciousnesses and the four self-confidences, safeguarding the authority of the CPC Central Committee and getting united around the centralized and unified leadership the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core.
He expected Southeast University to make greater achievements in serving the country's self-reliance in science and technology, bravely shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the times, adhere to the fine tradition of promoting advanced science and technology, continue to make major breakthroughs in key core technologies and bottleneck technologies, and make greater efforts to create more peaks on the plateau of scientific and technological innovation in Jiangsu.
In his video speech, Zhong Denghua, deputy minister of education, hoped that Southeast University will thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on education, take the 120th anniversary of the founding of the school as a new starting point, continue to strengthen the overall leadership of the party, accelerate the construction of national strategic forces, strive to promote the construction of a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, and make greater achievements and contributions to the journey of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Among the other speakers at the celebration ceremony were Hao Ping, President of Peking University, Huang Ru, President of Southeast University, Margaret Gardner, President of Monash University, Australia, Santa Ono, President of the University of British Columbia, Canada.
