2026 New Year Greetings from Sun Yat-sen University

As the bells of 2026 ring in a new chapter, Sun Yat-sen University(SYSU) stands at a fresh starting point in its second century of excellence.

Join us in reading the 2026 New Year Greetings from LIU Chenggong, Secretary of the CPC Sun Yat-sen University Committee, and GAO Song, President of SYSU, as we embrace another year of pursuit, discovery, and excellence. Happy New Year to all SYSUers around the world!

As time speeds onward like a shooting star and academic vitality blooms with each passing day, we stand at this celebrated moment of bidding farewell to the old and embracing the new. On behalf of Sun Yat-sen University, we extend our New Year wishes to all faculty and staff, retired colleagues, alumni at home and abroad, as well as friends from all walks of life who have long cherished and supported SYSU's development!

The congratulatory message blazed like a guiding torch, inspiring the university to forge ahead on a new journey. 2025 marked the inaugural year of SYSU's second century-long march. We adhered to systematic planning, high-level stewardship, and sustained in-depth study and implementation of the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important congratulatory message on the 100th anniversary of SYSU's founding. Upholding our sacred mission and the trust bestowed upon us, we translated those earnest expectations into tangible strides toward building a world-class university with Chinese characteristics. With unyielding enthusiasm and steadfast actions, we strived to elevate all university undertakings to a new realm of high-quality development in this emerging century and onward course.

Guided by Party building, the university consolidated its foundations and strengthened its roots. Anchored in the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, SYSU has integrated Party leadership into every aspect of its governance and operation. Fresh progress was achieved in The Initiative for Demonstration Creation and Quality Excellence in University Party Building for the New Era (aka. the "Double Creation" initiative for Party building), further amplifying the university's role as a national pacesetter in Party building. The university was selected as one of the first pilot institutions for the Ministry of Education's "Pilot Leadership Workstation for University Teachers" program. We advanced comprehensive and rigorous Party self-governance with unwavering resolve, and earnestly carried out educational activities on thoroughly implementing the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulation of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The ethics and values work system was continuously refined, with the "Five-in-One Education" (namely, nurturing morality, intellect, physical fitness, aesthetic appreciation, and labor skills) taking deep root, and the signature programs of physical education, aesthetic education, and labor education gaining growing recognition. We delved into the university's rich revolutionary heritage, allowing the "red gene" to permeate the very fabric of education, nourish the lofty faith of our students, and forge the pillars of our times.

The university deepened reforms in various realms to unleash vitality. A series of strategic seminars and deployment meetings were convened at the university, which systematically mapped out the pathway for "integrating educational reform and development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation". We vigorously advanced the "Eight Major Strategies" and "Eight Major Breakthrough Actions", rolling out a series of reform measures focused on key areas. The reform of educational evaluation in the new era continued to deepen, with a number of achievements recognized as national model cases, exerting a profound demonstration effect. With initial successes scored in the reform of the university's administrative governance system and academic governance system, the modern university system was further refined. The compilation of the university's "15th Five-Year Plan" was conducted in a systematic and rigorous manner, integrating top-level design with democratic participation, pooling wisdom from all quarters, and charting a clear course for the future. This laid a solid foundation for propelling the university toward a higher level of intensive development.

The university was fully devoted to cultivating and attracting talents, cementing the ideological anchor and strengthening faculty quality. Fulfilling the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, we strived to nurture creative talents endowed with exceptional learning capacity, critical thinking, and pragmatic action – talents who will lead the future. The basic discipline education system was continuously optimized; the new integrated undergraduate-graduate education framework advanced steadily; seven innovative programs in cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields were established; and the School of Future Biomedical Sciences was founded – all accelerating the cultivation of much-needed talents. The university was selected as a pilot for the Ministry of Education's AI-empowered education initiative, with the preparatory course "Meeting AI-o1" guiding new students on a comprehensive journey of AI exploration, and the "X+AI" dual bachelor's degree program was successfully launched. We championed the spirit of educators and continuously strengthened the development of teachers' ethics and professionalism. Remarkable milestones were achieved in talent recruitment and development. Among all the achievements in this regard, two new academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, along with one hundred and one national-level high-caliber talents, joined our ranks; distinguished scholars such as mathematician Zhang Yitang became full-time members of the Hong Kong Advanced Research Institute, ushering in simultaneous growth in both the quantity and quality of our talent pool.

Driven by innovation, the university tackled challenges and achieved breakthroughs. Implementing the strategy of "building academic peaks, strengthening foundational disciplines, and promoting interdisciplinary integration", we enhanced the quality and efficacy of discipline development. Organized interdisciplinary research enabled collaborative efforts to address key challenges. Institutions such as the Frontier Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Health Science and Technology, and the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute were established or upgraded, with their international influence continuously elevated. The caliber of scientific and technological innovation leaped to new heights, with our capacity for major research breakthroughs significantly strengthened. The number of approved projects as well as their funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China reached an all-time high, while the number of approved projects from the National Social Science Foundation of China (excluding western special programs) ranked first in the nation. The construction of major scientific and technological platforms yielded a string of successes: the Tianqin Project achieved the first detection of echo signals from the new-generation lunar laser retroreflector NGLR-1 by Chinese scientists; the State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies successfully completed its reorganization; and multiple provincial and ministerial-level platforms were approved. Pioneering original achievements emerged in abundance, with numerous high-impact research findings published in top-tier international journals. Efforts were made to deepen the integration of science and education, as well as industry and education. For example, the cubic satellite "Yixian-A", independently developed by a student team, was successfully launched, becoming the world's first satellite to conduct on-orbit verification of wooden exterior panels. Several new university-enterprise joint research platforms were established to unlock innovation potential. We effectively reshaped the National University Science Park, crafting a "dumbbell-shaped" innovation blueprint, and steadily advanced the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, securing the second-highest number of awards among Chinese mainland universities at the 25th China Patent Awards.

The university served the overall national interest and fulfilled its mission. Closely aligned with the development needs of the nation and the Greater Bay Area, the university's capacity to serve economic and social progress was continuously enhanced. We strengthened the development of national high-end think tanks, jointly establishing the SYSU Global and Regional Governance Research Center in Hong Kong, fostering an extensive international academic network, and conducting research on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from a global perspective. Our affiliated hospitals pursued high-quality development, steadfastly safeguarding the people's health by providing medical services to nearly 200 million individuals over the year, with key progress made in the construction of the National Medical Center and 7 National Regional Medical Centers. Further targeted assistance efforts were also made, including the improvement of the long-term mechanism for "group-style" assistance to Xinjiang and Xizang and the establishment of the SYSU Xinjiang Research Institute and the Xinjiang Branch of the International Eye Center. The quality of local cultural, tourism, medical, and public health undertakings was thus boosted. Paired-up assistance effectively supported consolidation of poverty alleviation achievements in Fengqing County of Yunnan Province. The paired co-construction programs with Gaozhou City and Lianzhou City of Guangdong Province were strengthened, and were recognized as a model case by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Unified in purpose and resolve, the whole university forged ahead in harmony. The achievements of SYSU stand testimony to the toil and dedication of every faculty member, student, and staff member, and are inseparable from the support and devotion of our extensive alumni community as well as caring friends from all sectors. We therefore extend our deepest respect and sincere gratitude to each and every one of them!

As a fresh century unfolds for SYSU, we are unwavering in our resolve to set sail on this new journey. Let us unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and effectively translate General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest entrustment into the university's strategic plans, actionable measures, and tangible outcomes. Keeping in mind the "greater cause of the nation", we will forge ahead on this new century-long journey, strive to write a brilliant new chapter in building a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, and make new and greater contributions to building a strong country through education and advancing Chinese modernization!

We wish you a joyous New Year, great health, and every success ahead! May our great motherland be blessed with boundless happiness and harmony, and may our people live in peace and prosperity!

LIU Chenggong and GAO Song