On the morning of May 16, the five-person delegation of Iwate University, led by President Akira Iwabuchi and Vice President Matsuo Uemura, visited SHOU, and signed an academic cooperation agreement with SHOU. Cheng Yudong, President of SHOU; Zhong Junsheng, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office; and heads of related departments presented at the signing ceremony.
Cheng warmly welcomed the delegation of Iwabuchi on behalf of SHOU, and fully affirmed the good faith of the two universities in mutual cooperation. Since the first visit of the experts of Iwate University to SHOU in December, 2015, the two universities have started their frequent teacher and student exchange activities, including both teacher-level exchange and summer programs and activities for students. President Iwabuchi also spoke highly of the progress of cooperation between the two universities, and expressed his hope that multi-subject and multi-field cooperation and exchange can be promoted with the establishment of friendly university relationship. The two universities will further define the direction and intention of teacher and student academic exchange and cooperation between the two universities and continuously promote new cooperation and exchange.
After the signing ceremony, the presidents of the two universities exchanged opinions about university management and development strategies. Iwabuchi briefly introduced the history, major setup, academic research and other conditions of Iwate University, proposed the university governance concept of “glocalization”, and received unanimous praises from the representatives present. After that, Cheng gave a detailed introduction to the development history, major construction and development vision for 2030 of SHOU. The characteristic, international and informational development directions of SHOU were also highly approved and praised by the Japanese guests.
In the afternoon, the first academic forum between the two universities, chaired by Yang Zhengyong, Director of the Office of Science and Technology, was held. At the forum, six experts introduced the latest research findings of their respective fields from the subject directions of Molecular Biology of the Algae, Plant Physiology, Fishery Economy Management, Food Science and so forth, including Professor Matsuo Uemura from Iwate University, Associate Professor Gakushi Ishimura from the Faculty of Agriculture of Iwate University, Associate Professor Yuan Chunhong from SHOU, Professor Zhou Zhigang from the College of Fisheries and Life Science of SHOU, Professor Wu Wenhui from the College of Food Science, and Associate Professor Zhang Haiqing from the College of Economics and Management. The teacher and student representatives from three colleges participated in the workshop, engaged in active exchange, and launched the academic cooperation between the two universities.