President Xi Jinping (front, center), also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, learns about the university's reform, human resources development, innovation in education and scientific research, as well as the university's role in serving national development at Tsinghua University in Beijing, April 19, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
President Xi Jinping emphasized on Monday the need to build world-class universities with Chinese characteristics to serve national rejuvenation as he visited Tsinghua University ahead of its 110th anniversary, which falls on Sunday.
Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark when inspecting the country's prestigious university in Beijing. He is also a graduate of Tsinghua University.
He urged Tsinghua to strengthen innovation and cultivate more outstanding, talented people to serve national development.
China's higher education should assume its due responsibilities and make contributions to the country's prosperity, national rejuvenation and people's happiness, President Xi Jinping said
He visited the Academy of Arts and Design, a laboratory on imaging and intelligence, an exhibition on the university's key education and scientific research achievements and a gymnasium, and learned about Tsinghua's reform, human resources development and innovation in education and scientific research.
While speaking at a symposium attended by representatives of the faculty and students, Xi commended the university's development, achievements and its contributions to national development.
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He said that this year witnesses the start of a new journey of fully building China into a modern socialist country, and it is more imperative than ever to improve higher education and improve understanding of science and outstanding talents in order to serve the Party and the country's development.
China's higher education should be based on the overall strategic situation of national rejuvenation as well as the profound changes in the international landscape unseen in a century, Xi said.
It should assume its due responsibilities and make contributions to the country's prosperity, national rejuvenation and people's happiness, he added.
Noting that a country's higher education system requires strong support from first-class universities, Xi urged Tsinghua to take historic opportunities in the new development stage, implement the new development philosophy and serve the building of the new development paradigm.
President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, waves to faculty members and students before he leaves Tsinghua University in Beijing, April 19, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Efforts should be made to synergize the development of science and technology, cultivate talented people and strengthen innovation in order to better serve the country's reform and opening-up as well as socialist modernization, he said.
Xi stressed that the key to building a first-class university lies in constantly improving the quality of talented people in order to meet the pressing need for national development.
He called for strengthening the cultivation of professionals in basic sciences, targeting cutting-edge technologies and key research fields, stepping up the development of urgently needed talented people, and continuing to raise creative and innovative capabilities.
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The university should take the lead in developing basic research and making breakthroughs in major technologies, Xi said.
He urged Tsinghua to make bolder moves to make headway in core technologies in key fields that still limit the country's development, and strengthen collaboration with research institutes and industrial entities to promote the transformation of scientific results into productivity.
Xi underlined the need for the university to uphold openness and cooperation, intensify international exchanges and cooperation and work with higher education institutions in other countries to cope with global challenges and enhance the common well-being of humankind.
He also asked the university's students and teachers to firm up their beliefs and ideals to dedicate themselves to the country and the people.
