The Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) held the Celebration Conference for the 100th Anniversary of SYSU and Innovation-Driven Development Forum in the university on the morning of November 12. Over 5,500 people from governments, universities, institutions and organizations across the country as well as the SYSU alumni, faculty and student representatives attended the event. 

Zhu Kongjun, secretary of the CPC Committee of Sun Yat sen University, presided over the conference.

Zhu Kongjun, secretary of the CPC Committee of Sun Yat sen University, presides over the conference.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, read out the congratulatory letter from Xi Jinping. And Huang noted in his speech that Guangdong would fully support Sun Yat-sen University in its efforts to make new contributions.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, reads out the congratulatory letter from Xi Jinping.

Zhu Kongjun, secretary of the CPC Committee of Sun Yat sen University, said that Xi’s congratulatory letter has clearly pointed out future directions for SYSU to accelerate the construction of a world-class university with Chinese characteristics at this new starting point. SYSU will make more contributions to build a powerful nation in education and promote Chinese modernization.

In his address, Gao Song, president of Sun Yat-sen University and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, mentioned the glorious century-long history of the university.

"Sun Yat-sen University was established in a time of national crisis and went through the periods from revolution to building of the People's Republic of China. Based in Guangdong Province, the frontline of China's reform and opening-up, SYSU has achieved a remarkable development in the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics," Gao said.

SYSU will expand opening up at a high level to deepen international exchange and cooperation, and build a global partnership network of universities. The university will continue to contribute its efforts to promoting mutual learning between civilizations, tackling global challenges, advancing science and technology, reaching sustainable socio-economic development, and as well as improving the wellbeing of humanity, Gao added.

Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, extended congratulations to Sun Yat-sen University and spoke highly of the achievements the university has made over the past century. She said the university's innovative research is impressive, in particular with the frontier research in bioinformatics and cancer treatment. SYSU also takes a leading position in social science research in China. She pointed out that these accomplishments can be attributed to the unremitting efforts of the university to benefit China and the rest of the world with knowledge.

The centennial celebration conference was followed by the Innovation-Driven Development Forum. Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, the Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1987 and also known as the "father of supramolecular chemistry", who is now a member of the French Academy of Sciences and an international member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with other distinguished experts in sectors of image and video AI and search, cloud computing, and distributed systems as well as outstanding representatives of SYSU alumni attended the forum. They discussed the role of education, science and technology, and talents in Chinese modernization.