Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi of the UAE awarded the title of Honorary Professor of Tsinghua during his visit to Tsinghua
China-UAE Youth Circle Dialogue held at the same time
On July 23rd, H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), visited Tsinghua University, and President Qiu Yong of Tsinghua University held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed. During his visit, Crown Prince Mohammed was awarded the title of Honorary Professor of Tsinghua University and attended the China-UAE Youth Circle Dialogue. UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan and others accompanied the visit. Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang, Chinese Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Ni Jian and Vice President of Tsinghua University Yang Bin attended the meeting.
On behalf of Tsinghua University, President Qiu Yong welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed’s first visit and introduced to him Tsinghua’s historical development, talent cultivation and global strategy. President Qiu noted that the top priority for a good university is to train outstanding talents. Tsinghua University is continuing to push forward the reform of education in its teaching and research systems, hoping to make the university more international and innovative and train more innovative young talents. Tsinghua University has established a long-term partnership with universities in the United Arab Emirates, and has carried out talent exchange and research cooperation with Khalifa University and the United Arab Emirates University in many fields.
On the prior morning, in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Crown Prince Mohammed, Tsinghua University and Khalifa University of Science and Technology exchanged the agreement just signed between the two universities to establish joint research cooperation. UAE University is also one of the founding member universities of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA)initiated by Tsinghua University. President Qiu said that Tsinghua University will endeavor to play a greater role in promoting exchanges between China and the United Arab Emirates, especially the exchange of young people and cooperation in education, science and technology. Tsinghua also welcomes more outstanding young students from the UAE to study at Tsinghua.
Crown Prince Mohammed noted that it was a great honor for him to come to China and Tsinghua. He was very glad to see that UAE universities have established close cooperation with famous Chinese universities like Tsinghua. Crown Prince Mohammed pointed out that education is very important to the UAE, who are working hard to equip the new generation of the UAE with scientific knowledge and skills, especially in the field of scientific and technological progress, which also requires continuous strengthening of cooperation with other universities. Prince Mohammed said that he was honored to receive the title of Honorary Professor of Tsinghua University, and noted that this year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE and China. He hoped that the young people of the two countries could become a bridge to promote the development of bilateral relations. The UAE would also strive to promote exchanges between the young people from both sides.
At the Honorary Professorship Award Ceremony held after the talks, President Qiu presented Crown Prince Mohammed with a letter of appointment as an honorary professor. Yang Bin presided over the awarding ceremony and introduced Crown Prince Mohammed’s achievements and contribution.
On the same day, the China-UAE the Youth Circle Dialogue , jointly organized by the UAE Embassy, the UAE Federal Youth Authority, and Tsinghua University, was held in the reception hall of the main building at Tsinghua University. Crown Prince Mohammed attended the dialogue and communicated with young students from both countries.
Twenty-four young people from various universities and industries in the UAE and 30 young students from Tsinghua University held heated discussions on the cultural commonness, inheritance of tradition and joint innovation between China and the UAE, and tried to address the meaningful question of how the common values of China and the UAE lay the foundation for innovation led by young people. The youth of the two countries shared their values towards their motherland, society, and family. Everyone agreed that on the basis of mutual recognition, the youth of China and the UAE must join hands in innovation and create a new future for the relationship between the two countries under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
After listening to the speeches of the youth of the two countries, Crown Prince Mohammed said that that he was very happy to have the opportunity to participate in the youth dialogue. Every student is a hope for the future. UAE-China exchanges have a long history, and youth is the future of friendship between the two countries.
As part of the series of exchange activities, an art troupe from the UAE performed the wonderful “Al Ayala ” outside the Tsinghua Art Museum that morning.
Editors: Li Han, Guo Lily, John Olbrich
