Vice President Zhan Yiqing of HUST led the delegation to the United States from August 6th to 11th, to promote high-level talent cultivation and cooperation in education and technology with UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, USC, and Caltech, as well as to visit the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles, and to meet with alumni groups from Southern and Northern California.

At UC Berkeley, Prof. Lisa Alvarez-Cohen, Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Senior International Officer of UC Berkeley, member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Microbiology, met with the delegation and extended a warm welcome, looking forward to further cooperation with HUST. Zhan Yiqing pointed out that HUST has sent more than 600 outstanding exchange students to Berkeley since the two universities signed the first Memorandum of Cooperation in 2013. It is hoped that the two universities will continue to deepen practical cooperation in the post-pandemic era.

The delegation was invited to the East Asian Library and the Chang-Lin Tien Center for East Asian Studies, exchanging views with relevant representatives on further cooperation in information management and digital governance. The delegation also held three meetings with different schools and departments at Berkeley.

At UC Irvine, the delegation met with Prof. Pramod Khargonekar, Vice Chancellor of the University of California, Irvine, and signed a Collaboration Agreement on Academic Study Abroad Program. Zhan Yiqing expressed wishes to strengthen mutual cooperation in humanities and business in the future. Prof. Khargonekar gave a warm welcome to the delegation, noting HUST’s remarkable development in recent years and their expectation to jointly promote global education together.

At the University of Southern California, Paulo Rodrigues, Associate Vice Provost for Global Engagement, and Kana Sugita, Director of International Affairs, met with the delegation. Paulo pointed out that USC and HUST have recently begun to explore collaborative programs for talent cultivation in areas such as media and communication. It is hoped that the two sides can further focus on sustainable development goals, expand interdisciplinary collaboration and enhance the partnership in the future. Zhan Yiqing introduced the construction of Junshan International Campus of HUST and proposed to take the Junshan Campus as a starting point to expand the all-round cooperative relationship between the two universities.

The delegation also visited the optical imaging and other related laboratories at the Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. They also met with the Southern California Alumni Association of HUST during an reception dinner, where Zhan Yiqing introduced to the alumni HUST’s progress and outstanding achievements in recent years.

In addition, the delegation paid a visit to the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles. Deputy Consul General Li Chunlin thought highly of this visit, saying it contributed to the educational and interpersonal exchange between China and the United States. Zhan Yiqing said that HUST always promotes cooperation and exchange with partners in the U,S. and thanked the Consulate General for its support.

Written by: Yu Shiyun

Edited by: Yang Kunjie, Chang Wen, Peng Yumeng