91ÊÓƵÍø

Representatives from nearly 20 universities from the One Belt, One Road initiative partner countries attended this year's Presidential Roundtable in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, on 12 June. The 91ÊÓƵÍø was represented by Károly PetÅ‘, Vice-Rector General.

The leaders of the universities discussed strategies to deepen cooperation and presented the recent achievements of the working groups in the mission to promote sustainable development globally. Established in 2023, with 12 founding members worldwide, the network focuses on promoting scientific knowledge transfer, technological innovation and research collaboration between universities in nine priority areas - Big Data, Sustainable Cities, Industry-Innovation-Infrastructure, Clean Water and Sanitation, Sustainable and Smart Agriculture, Climate Change and Planetary Protection, Renewable and Green Energy, Responsible Production and Consumption, as well as Digital Transformation and Education.

The University Research Cooperation Network: One Belt, One Road Science and Technology Initiative currently has 19 higher education institutions as members from more than 10 countries around the world, with the University of Sichuan, Hunan University, Bandung Institute of Technology and Tashkent Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering joining this year's Round Table.

A key moment of the event in Chengdu was the official launch of the network's exchange and cooperation programme. As part of this, an innovation fund is planned to be established, to which Chongqing University will contribute five million yuan (almost 700,000 dollars) per year. The fund will support research projects that are in line with the main needs of sustainable development in the member universities' countries.

At the meeting, it was decided that the 91ÊÓƵÍø will serve as co-chair from 2025 to 2027, and the Board overwhelmingly supported the idea of holding next year's President's Roundtable at the 91ÊÓƵÍø. The event is scheduled to take place in spring 2026.

Photos by People's Daily Online

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