On December 17, Dalian University of Technology (DUT) and Hokkaido University held an online meeting to celebrate the 10 years of friendly exchanges.

Guo Dongming, President of DUT, said that DUT has always been committed to become a leader in the field of Sino-Japanese higher education cooperation and the first choice of Japanese students majoring in science and technology to study in China. Over the past decade, the two universitites have made fruitful cooperation and exchange results. It is expected that both sides will make more explorations in increasing the mutual dispatch of students, promoting joint guidance of postgraduate students and cooperative scientific research, gradually forming a model of joint training of undergraduates and postgraduates, and making more contributions in the field of higher education to serve the general situation of Sino-Japanese friendship.

Houkin Kiyohiro, President of Hokkaido University, expressed his gratitude to DUT for the support of masks during the most severe period of the epidemic, and hoped to further strengthen exchanges with DUT on the implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through mutual cooperation and close contact, it is hoped that both sides can assume the responsibility in promoting people-to-people exchanges and enhancing mutual understanding and trust in the context of the epidemic.

At the meeting, Guo Dongming and Houkin Kiyohiro exchanged souvenirs for the 10th anniversary of cooperation between the two universities.

Xia Shaojie, Deputy Consul General of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Sapporo, said that the anniversary celebration between DUT and Hokkaido University is a positive move to implement the initiative of the leaders of the two countries to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Sapporo is willing to work together with DUT and Hokkaido University to enhance understanding and cooperation through friendly exchange activities, and to foster the successors of Sino-Japanese friendship for generations.

Todoriki Ken, Director of the Consular Office of Japan in Dalian, said that the exchange of universities and scholars is an important area of exchange between China and Japan. He looked forward to the strengthening of the exchange and cooperation between young researchers and students of the two universities. Therefore, the two universities can jointly achieve excellent scientific research results and cultivate talents who will shoulder the future of both countries.

Afterwards,So Kawanobe,the deputy executivedirector of Institute for International Collaboration, Hokkaido University, andLi Xiaodan, the deputy director of International Office, DUT, introduced the policies of international exchange and cooperation programs of the two universities respectively. The representatives of faculty members and students from the two universities shared their experiences of participating in exchange programs. As a representative of Japanese entrepreneurs in Dalian, Kazuya Fujimoto, Manager of PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhongtian Accounting Firm (Special General Partner) Dalian Branch, introduced the general information of Dalian and the development of entrepreneurs in Dalian.

In the afternoon, the two universities held interdisciplinary sub-forums on mechanical engineering, civil engineering, software engineering and architecture, and nearly 400 teachers and students participated in online academic exchanges.