Jointly presented by SUSTech and Times Higher Education, THE Asia Universities Summit 2018 is taking place on February 5 to 7, 2018, with the theme of “Connecting cities, changing the world: research universities building Asia”. SUSTech is a thriving Asian university with a bright future that will influence the higher education as well as the world economy and politics, said Phil Baty, the editorial director of global rankings Times Higher Education.

37 renowned university presidents from 16 countries and areas attended the summit.  The city’s Party chief, Wang Weizhong, the director of National Natural Science Foundation Yang Wei, the Chairperson of University Council Guo Yurong and the President of SUSTech Chen Shiyi attended the opening ceremony of the summit. The summit aims to discuss, debate and discover how Asian research universities are transforming our future and discuss strategies for building regional alliances, collaborating with local businesses and cultivating entrepreneurship.

Speaking at the Opening Remarks, Wang Weizhong pointed out that Shenzhen does play, has played, and will continue to play a significant role in the building of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and he noted that innovation, as the first impetus of Shenzhen's economic growth, has been empowered by excellent talents and universities.

SUSTech President Chen Shiyi expressed that the development of SUSTech cannot be separated from the support of the city of Shenzhen. He also said that SUSTech would continue to make further contributions to the nation and city through its academic developments.

“Global cooperation improves China’s academic influence, empowering the future development of the domestic academic capabilities,” said Yang Wei, President of Natural Science Foundation of China. He illustrated the relationship between research universities and basic research, the conflicts among research universities, the basic research and the development of research universities.

Subra Suresh, the President of Nanyang Technological University, delivered a keynote speech on the trends, opportunities and challenges of global research and education, beginning with historical perspectives of how successful research enterprises and their societal consequences have evolved. He further examined some of the key questions, potential issues and consequences of the trends above for research, education and lifelong learning.

About the Times Higher Education Asia Universities Summit

Following the great success of summits in Hong Kong in 2016 and South Korea in 2017, this prestigious gathering moved to Shenzhen, the international innovation hub of southern China and a rising global megacity. In the summit, leaders will debate and share their strategies that will impact the future of the continent. A number of issues will be addressed, including how universities and city authorities can best work in partnership; how universities can be catalysts between industry and government for innovation; how research universities can bridge cultural divides via the global knowledge economy; and how higher education can take a leading socio-economic role through the fourth industrial revolution.