7月20日

High-Level Meeting on Transportation Sector Cultural Exchange & Joint Thematic Study Session Successfully Held

On the afternoon of July 19, 2023, the high-level meeting on transportation sector cultural exchange and joint thematic study session were solemnly convened at Beijing Jiaotong University. Wang Jiaqiong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Beijing Jiaotong University; Du Kewei, Director of the Center for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange under the Ministry of Education; Cai Yuhe, Secretary of the Party Committee of China Transportation News; and Xu Sisi, Deputy General Manager of Zhongyi Yingsteak Technology Co., Ltd., attended the conference and delivered speeches. The meeting was chaired by Yan Xuedong, Vice President of Beijing Jiaotong University.

In his speech, Wang Jiaqiong emphasized that Sino-foreign cultural exchange serves as the foundation for strengthening mutual understanding between peoples, an important pathway for enhancing China’s level of openness, and a significant force for promoting global peace and development. Under the guidance of the Center for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Jiaotong University leveraged its strengths and distinctive features to integrate cultural exchange concepts into international cooperation within the transportation sector. It established the Institute for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange in Transportation integrating talent cultivation, technological innovation, discipline development, and think tank research with cultural exchange. This initiative further deepens industry-academia-research collaboration and industry-education integration, continuously enhances the transportation sector’s capacity for cultural exchange and international communication, and provides comprehensive support for transportation enterprises going global. Moving forward, the institute will prioritize serving national strategic priorities, leverage its strengths, innovate mechanisms, and unite diverse stakeholders to establish itself as a premier brand for advancing Sino-foreign cultural exchange in transportation. It will support national opening-up and the Belt and Road initiatives, foster win-win cooperation and shared development, better serve the globalization of transportation, and contribute more wisdom and strength from Beijing Jiaotong University to building a community with a shared future for mankind!

Du Kewei delivered a speech and presented a keynote report titled “Deepening Understanding of the Community with a Shared Future for Mankind and Cultural Exchange in Thematic Education to Promote High-Quality Development of the Industry Cultural Exchange Research Institute.” He elaborated on the profound significance, critical importance, and rich practices of Sino-foreign cultural exchange, emphasizing the need to integrate the concept of cultural exchange and cooperation into all areas of foreign relations. The Sino-foreign Humanistic Exchange Research Institute for the Transportation Industry aims to focus on research and practice in humanistic exchanges within the transportation sector. It provides policy consultation, intellectual support, and resource matching services for humanistic exchanges between Chinese and foreign transportation industries. The institute builds an integrated platform for industry research, talent cultivation and training, consulting services, and project implementation. He stated that China Transportation News has long been committed to reporting on China's transportation achievements, sharing compelling stories of its transport sector, and showcasing a positive image of Chinese transportation. Looking ahead, he expressed hope to comprehensively strengthen cooperation with Beijing Jiaotong University and the Research Institute, aiming to achieve deep integration of industry, academia, and research in areas such as scientific research, production and dissemination of converged media content, and domestic and international public opinion analysis related to transportation.

Cai Yuhe emphasized in his speech that the transportation sector serves as a vanguard in driving economic integration and cultural exchange. The diverse cultural exchange activities derived from transportation further function as vital platforms for advancing China’s international exchanges, enhancing the nation's image, and showcasing contemporary China. The establishment of the institute responds to the call of the Party and the nation, aligns with the demands of the times, and will undoubtedly become a vital vehicle and think tank supporting China’s international transportation exchanges. He stated that China Transportation News has long been committed to reporting on China’s transportation achievements, telling stories about China’s transportation sector, and showcasing its image. Moving forward, he expressed hope for comprehensive cooperation with Beijing Jiaotong University and the institute to achieve deep integration of industry, academia, and research in scientific studies, integrated media content production and dissemination, and transportation public opinion monitoring both domestically and internationally.

Xu Sisi highlighted in her speech that the official launch of the integrated media and public opinion monitoring system for the transportation sector, jointly developed with Beijing Jiaotong University’s transportation public opinion team. It marks the first step in strengthening collaboration between the two parties. This system serves as a vital technological platform to support China’s transportation sector in expanding globally and enhancing cultural exchanges. This in-depth cooperation fully realizes the integration of industry, academia, research, and application. Both parties will jointly establish a high-standard converged media laboratory, develop new products, and enhance comprehensive collaboration in technical strategic consulting, scientific research projects, and talent cultivation. She stated that in the future, both sides will work together to root themselves in the transportation industry, continuously develop intelligent technology support platforms to empower the sector, jointly pioneer innovations in areas such as smart transportation media, and inject technological strength into building a transportation powerhouse.

Subsequently, Cao Diefeng, Deputy Director of the Center for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange under the Ministry of Education, presented the certificate to the Institute for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange in the Transportation Industry.

Du Kewei, Wang Jiaqiong, Cai Yuhe, Cao Diefeng, Yan Xuedong, and Xu Sisi jointly illuminated the crystal ball symbolizing the “Institute for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange in the Transportation Industry.”

Attendees witnessed the launch of the “Transportation Industry Converged Media and Public Opinion Monitoring System.”

Geng Jiyong, President of the School of Languages and Communication Studies, and Executive Vice Dean of the Institute, shared the institute’s progress in three areas including positioning, implementation, and future development. Geng Ji Yong stated that the institute will continue leveraging our university’s strengths in transportation disciplines and the School of Language and Communication Studies’ unique “foreign languages + communication” approach. It will further innovate mechanisms, advance the “one country, one research” and “one country, one strategy” regional research paradigms, and consistently provide enterprises with professional talent support, technological innovation assistance, and solutions to development challenges. This will meet corporate needs for participating in the Belt and Road construction and achieving high-quality overseas development. The institute cordially invites universities, enterprises, and research institutions to join its council, working together to deepen and refine people-to-people exchanges, effectively tell the transportation stories of the Belt and Road Initiative, and amplify the voices of transportation cooperation and development.

Also attending the meeting were representatives from media outlets including China News Service, China Transportation News, China Science Daily, China Education Television, and Beijing Television, as well as responsible officials. Additionally, leading officials and representatives of faculty and students attended from various university departments and schools, such as the University Administration Office, Organization Department, Publicity Department, Office of Humanities and Social Sciences, Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, Office of External Liaison and Cooperation, School of Traffic and Transportation, School of Marxism, School of Architecture and Design, Law School, School of International Education, and School of Languages and Communication Studies.

The Institute for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange in the Transportation Sector was jointly established by the Center for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange under the Ministry of Education and Beijing Jiaotong University. The “Agreement on Jointly Establishing the Institute for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange in the Transportation Sector” was signed in November 2021. In December 2021, the “Announcement on Establishing the Institute for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange in the Transportation Sector and Launching Social Services” was officially released. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the institute further implements the requirements outlined in documents such as “the Several Opinions on Strengthening and Improving Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange” and “the Opinions of the Ministry of Education and Seven Other Departments on Accelerating and Expanding Education Opening-up in the New Era”. By deeply understanding the interactive relationship between Sino-foreign cultural exchange and education opening-up, the institute integrates cultural exchange concepts into international cooperation within the transportation sector. It promotes the innovative development of “transportation industry+cultural exchange,” strengthens the capacity-building for cultural exchange in the transportation sector, and encourages and supports transportation enterprises to “go global.” It serves the Belt and Road Initiatives and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and injects new connotations and vitality into the opening up of education.