Ren Youqun attends the 2015 University Presidents Forum.
Ren Youqun, Vice Chairman of the ECNU University Council and Vice President of the University, attended the 2015 University Presidents Forum organized by the website people.cn on November. 27. During the forum, he discussed the topic of the mission of universities during the 13th Five Plan Period with leaders of 26 universities, from around China and signed a cooperation agreement with people.cn.
Ren addresses at the panel discussion by university leaders.
Attendants of the event included: Li Baoshan, Editor-in-Chief of People’s Daily; Zhu Yongxin, who is member of the standing committee and Vice Secretary General of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and Vice Chairman of China Association for Promoting Democracy(CAPD); Qu Zhenyuan, Chairman of China Association of Higher Education, Zhang Daliang, Chief of the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education, and leaders of 27 other universities.
Ren Youqun first attended the panel discussion by university leaders in the morning. University leaders discussed three topics: “The Transformation of University R&D Achievements: Problems and Responses,” “How to Manage Research Funds,” and “The Independent Operation of Universities.”
Ren expresses his opinions on how to help students start a business.
Leaders of 27 universities in China participate in the Forum.
The forum formally began at 1:15 pm. In his opening speech, Li Baoshan said that Chinese higher education has experienced rapid growth in the past two decades, but problems with the growth can’t be ignored. The bottleneck still exists, he said. He hoped that the forum could serve as a platform where educators can exchange thoughts, gather ideas, and help Chinese students receive better higher education in the homeland of China.
Participants then attended three themed panel discussions: how to help students start a business, how to build first-class courses and core competitiveness; how to improve university governance.
Eight university leaders, including Ren Youqun, attended the first panel discussion. Ren said that to start up a business they need the ability and consciousness of innovation. In order to cultivate the innovation abilities of the people, two things need to be done: One, instead of focusing on individual cases, universities should set up an innovative mechanism to allow students to try out their ideas. Second, middle school education is also very important for the cultivation of innovative abilities, and therefore, current college entrance examinations should be reformed. “If the youngsters’ innovative abilities could be judged through the college entrance examinations, it would be of great help to universities,” he said.
At the forum, people.cn signed strategic cooperation agreements with 27 universities in China, covering aspects ranging from talent cultivation, course building, and image promotion.
