As Haining rides the rising tide of development, a decade of growth unfolds a future of promise on the International Campus, Zhejiang University. On the afternoon of October 8, 2026, the campus hosted its Convention on Quality and Sustainable Development at the Auditorium, bringing together guests, alumni, faculty and students to reflect on its first decade and chart its course for the future.
Those present at the convention included REN Shaobo, Chairman of the University Council; JIN Deshui, former Chairman of the University Council; CHEN Wei, Secretary of the CPC Jiaxing Municipal Committee; ZHANG Yun, Level II Bureau Rank Official of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Ministry of Education; SONG Yonghua, Rector of the University of Macau; HUANG Honghong, Member of the Party Leadership Group of the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission and Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the Demonstration Zone for Integrated Ecological and Green Development of the Yangtze River Delta; SHU Peidong, Deputy Director-General of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education; LU Wenge, Level II Bureau Rank Official of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Science and Technology; and SHEN Yuxiang, Member of the Standing Committee and Secretary-General of the CPC Jiaxing Municipal Committee.
In his address, REN Shaobo congratulated the International Campus on its 10th anniversary, thanked all supporters, and saluted pioneers who laid its foundation. He noted that over the past decade, the campus has focused on national strategies and global academic frontiers, advanced Yangtze River Delta integration tasks, and built a global education cooperation model zone. It has pioneered a ZJU-led model with overseas joint institutes, integrated Chinese-Western educational strengths, offered comprehensive education, and attracted talents to boost research.
Looking ahead, REN urged the campus to keep national significance in view, align with national strategic needs, and deepen reforms in Internationalization at Home (IaH). It should strengthen the “Study in China” brand, address AI-era opportunities and challenges, and take a lead in high-level international education exchanges. He called on the campus to uphold the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, and build a distinctive ideological and political education system rooted in the Red Boat spirit, truth-seeking ethos and global outlook. It should set an example in cultivating outstanding innovators for the country. REN also called for deeper reform and steady progress in building the model zone for global education partnerships. The campus should support ZJU’s broader strategy of fostering an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, a province-wide sci-tech innovation network, and a global talent hub. The integrated development of the international campus, sci-tech park and international community should drive coordinated progress across education, sci-tech, talent, industry and urban development. He expressed the hope that the campus would contribute to the university’s Double First-Class Initiative and take a pioneering role in its overall development. As ZJU strives to become a globally leading university known for innovation, the campus should serve as a strategic pillar, an international engagement hub and an innovation engine, while further advancing China’s educational opening-up and regional development.
CHEN Wei acknowledged the campus’s achievements over the past decade, highlighting its strengths in Sino-foreign education partnerships, talent attraction and community ties. He urged the campus to nurture talents for scientific advancement, collaborate with industry to upgrade manufacturing, and expand international exchanges amid China’s further opening-up. Jiaxing will deepen its city-university shared future commitment, offering stronger support and a better environment for the growth the campus.
ZHANG Yun congratulated the campus on its tenth anniversary and the convention. He cited its progress from pioneering and growth to proven practice, noting key education breakthroughs. To meet new demands, he urged goal focus, benchmark-setting, and work on nurturing globally minded innovators. He also called for strengthening the “Study in China” brand and people-to-people ties, offering a Zhejiang University model for quality Sino-foreign education, boosting education opening-up, and contributing to a community with a shared future for mankind.
HUANG Honghong remarked that the campus’s tangible achievements over the past ten years mirrored fruitful university-local government collaboration and the rollout of national strategies in Zhejiang. She expressed the hope that the campus would continue to serve as a benchmark, spearhead institutional innovation pilots, enhance coordination to explore new cross-regional innovation paths, and deepen local cooperation to showcase how universities can drive county-level high-quality development. Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission will actively address the campus’s development demands, promptly clear bottlenecks, back pilot programs, and help promote its experiences for wider application.
SHU Peidong emphasized the campus’s rooted-in-China, globally engaged model, which has nurtured global innovators and boosted regional economic and social progress. He urged continued focus on education and character building to become a top hub for outstanding innovators. Key priorities include deepening international cooperation, expanding high-level partnerships, and enhancing its status as a global education cooperation model zone. Strengthening mutually beneficial regional ties and fully participating in regional innovation were also highlighted. Through openness, action, and innovation, the campus can offer valuable insights to support Zhejiang’s goal of becoming a leading education province and China’s educational opening-up.
During the convention, CHEN Gang, vice president of Zhejiang University, signed cooperation agreements with McGill University and the University of Edinburgh, respectively. WU Yingcai, executive vice dean of the International Campus, and dean of the Zhejiang University–University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Institute (ZJUI), delivered a report on the campus’s 10-year experience in education. He also signed a series of agreements on international cooperation with academic units at universities including the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London. Campus representatives signed agreements to establish practical training bases for students with industry and institutional partners, including China Satcom, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), Scania, Zeron, Yibi Technology, SUPCON International, ADICON, Vazyme, DIAN Diagnostics and Evolvent AI. The principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, the president and vice-chancellor of McGill University, and the provost and senior vice-president of the Australian National University delivered video messages of congratulations on behalf of the three partner universities. The convention also included a ceremony appointing alumni liaisons around the world and a performance combining music, poetry and visual art, presented jointly by Chinese and international faculty and students. LI Min, Chief of the International Campus, chaired the convention.
After the convention, guests toured the campus’s 10th-anniversary education achievement exhibition and joined a symposium on advancing high-quality development of Sino-foreign cooperative education, aligned with China’s national goal of building itself into a global leader in education.
Other attendees at the events included FU Qiang, Vice Chairman of the University Council; YING Yibin, YAN Jianhua, LUO Jianhong, HE Lianzhen and HUANG Xianhai, Vice Chairs of the Zhejiang University Development Committee; LI Erping, Foreign Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Ehab Abouheif, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; James Whelan, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science; and TENG Mingya, Secretary of the CPC Haining Municipal Committee. They were joined by officials from the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education, Zhejiang Provincial Department of Science and Technology, and relevant Haining municipal departments; representatives from peer universities and partner enterprises; heads of relevant ZJU departments, schools and colleges; the campus leadership team and heads of its academic and administrative units; as well as alumni, faculty and student representatives.
