One Hundred Years of StrivingOpens a New Journey

Friends with remarkable talents gathered by Qianhu Lake on the foot of the Lailong Mountain. On the morning of May 2, the 100th Anniversary Development Conference of Nanchang University was held in Baifan Stadium, Qianhu Campus. Friends from all walks of life who are concerned about the development of NCU, alumni from home and abroad, faculty members and students met online and offline to celebrate this grand event, share friendly feelings, seek common development, and witness this important historical moment of the centennial Nanchang University together.

Before the conference, Liu Qi, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, and Yi Lianhong, the Provincial Governor, made a special trip to visit the university, giving full recognition to the achievements made by the university during the past 100 years and requiring the university to fully implement the essential gist of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech delivered during his visits to Jiangxi Province and Tsinghua University, implement the new development concepts, carry out the fundamental task of building moral education, focus on the construction of double-first-class university, reinforce the self-reliance and self-improvement of science and technology, and make greater contribution to the high-quality leap-forward development of Jiangxi Province.

Ye Jianchun, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Professor Pan Jiluan, Honorary President of Nachang University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his wife, Li Shiyu, Qiu Shuiping, alumnus of our university and Secretary of the Party Committee of Peking University, Ma Zhiwu, Deputy Director of Standing Committee of Jiangxi Provincial People’s Congress, Sun Jusheng, Vice Governor of Jiangxi Province, Li Huadong and Liu Weiping, Vice Chairmen of Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, Major General Wang Junmin, President of the Army Infantry Academy of PLA, Zhu Hong, former Deputy Director of Standing Committee of Jiangxi Provincial People’s Congress, Yao Yaping, alumnus of our university and former Vice Chairmen of Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC; Hu Zhenpeng, alumnus of our university and former Deputy Director of Standing Committee of Jiangxi Provincial People’s Congress; Sun Gang, alumnus of our university and former Vice Governor of Jiangxi Province, Xiao Guangming, alumnus of our university and former Vice Chairmen of Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, Professor Xie Lili, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and other more than 30 academicians, Professor Xie Weihe, former Vice President of Tsinghua University, and other people concerned attended the Development Conference and the Summit Forum on Promoting the High-quality Development of Jiangxi Industry with Science and Technology of Self-reliance and Self-improvement. Yu Xiaoshe, Secretary of the Party Committee of the university, presided over the conference.

The campus, on its 100th Anniversary, was filled with a festive atmosphere and vigor. In the Baifan Stadium, promotional videos of NCU’s 100th Anniversary and videos of congratulations were played on a big screen. All the attendants reviewed the history of NCU, summarized the experience, looked forward to a bright future, and share the joy and glory of NCU’s 100th Anniversary. At 10:00 a.m., along with the national anthem sung loudly and clearly, the bright Five-Starred Red Flag was raised in the stadium, which started the conference.

Shao Hong, alumnus of our university and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC and Executive Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Jiusan Society, sent his letter to congratulate the 100th Anniversary of Nanchang University. 200 sister universities in China, 53 local government departments and 78 foreign institutions of higher learning also sent their letters and videos to congratulate the 100th Anniversary of Nanchang University.

Ye Jianchun, on behalf of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, extended his warm congratulations to teachers, students and staff of the university and its alumni at home and abroad. According to his speech, the 100-year history of Nanchang University is a 100-year course of enduring great hardship in pioneer work and adhering to educating people and a 100-year course of forging ahead in the great changes. Over the past 100 years, NCU has always been staying true to its original aspiration, striving continually, and staying committed to passing the knowledge down from generation to generation, and has produced more than 500,000 outstanding talents for the revitalization and development of the nation and the country, having formed a fine university spirit of “Patriotism, Self-improvement, Innovation, Practice”. In the new era, Nanchang University, bearing in mind the earnest requests of General Secretary Xi Jinping, guided by the Ministry of Education and other relevant ministries and commissions, following the task of “making Nanchang University great with the efforts of the whole province” deployed by the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, has taken a solid step towards developing NCU into a double first-class university. He hoped that Nanchang University would understand its responsibilities, be brave to shoulder the responsibilities, live up to the expectations, and take its 100th anniversary as a new beginning to forge ahead and strive to turn the earnest requests of General Secretary Xi Jinping into the beautiful reality. He encouraged NCU to, in its progressive course of promising future, develop toward the right direction, open its way with reform and innovation, create with unremitting struggle, pave its way with commitment and practical walk, fully implement the Party’s education policy, insist on nurturing people with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, stay committed to the course of innovation and development, promote the deep integration of production, learning, research and practice, accelerate the formation of first-class talents teams, speed up high-quality and intensive development, focus on training more talents needed in the new generation to assume to role of national rejuvenation, build itself into a world-class university with the characteristics of Jiangxi Province, and to test and show its achievements in the practice of reform and development.

President Zhou Chuangbing delivered a speech titled Patriotism, Self-improvement, Innovation, Practice–A Hundred Years of Enduring Hardship Opens a New Journey of Forging Ahead. He reviewed the 100-year development history of Nanchang University and depicted the vision of the future development of Nanchang University. He pointed out that every step of the development of NCU resulted from the concern and care of the Party and the country, the correct leadership of the Ministry of Education, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, and the full support of the Department of Education and other provincial departments and the government of Nanchang City. Over the past 100 years, members of Nanchang University, staying true to the original aspiration and keeping in mind the mission of educating people, have formed the university spirit of “Patriotism, Self-improvement, Innovation, Practice”. Looking back at the NCU’s century-long history of endeavor, members of NCU was brought up into talents embracing the patriotism of carrying forward virtues and building the nation by education, the character of self-improvement highlighting indomitability and endeavor, the innovative spirit of seeking truth from facts and daring to be the first, and the practical learning style of diligence, preciseness, discernment and earnest practice. Looking forward to the future, faculty members of the university should adhere to the original mission of educating people for the Party and the country, insist on the positioning of striving for the first place in the construction of national double-first-class university, strengthen the self-reliance and self-improvement of sci-tech, making more contributions to serving the development of economy and society, implement three major development strategies of strengthening the university with talents, distinctive innovation and integration of education and industry, and promote the high-level, substantial and sustainable international exchange and cooperation to a new stage. The university will always keep the spirit of making breakthroughs, the vigor of innovation and the down-to-earth style, start a new journey to build a world-class university with characteristics of Jiangxi and China, and make greater contributions to building a modern socialist country and realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Zhang Qingjie, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of Wuhan University of Technology, on behalf of Wuhan University of Technology and other sister universities of NCU in China, congratulated Nanchang University on its 100th Anniversary. According to his speech, Nanchang University, as a local comprehensive university located in Jiangxi but eyeing on the whole country and the world, always keeps its pace with the times as well as the ups and downs of the country, endures hardship and bravely forges ahead, although it has been divided, incorporated, and relocated for several times. Nanchang University and Wuhan University of Technology have developed good cooperative relationship and deep friendship for a long time, and he hoped that both universities will continue to work together to live up to the times and the people, cultivate first-class talents, achieve first-class results, make first-class contributions and realize first-class dreams.

Professor Colin Bailey, President of Queen Mary University of London, Professor Virginie Laval, President of Université de Poitiers, and Professor Nikolay Danilovich Morozkin, Rector of Bashkir State University, on behalf of foreign institutions of higher learning, extended their warm congratulations via videos, looking forward to continuing the all-round educational exchanges and cooperation with Nanchang University via multiple channels and in multiple forms, continuously deepening mutual understanding and consolidating friendship.

Ding Jian, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yang Jian, President of Tellhow Group Co., Ltd., Zeng Anping, member of National Academy of Science and Engineering of Germany and other representatives of alumni sent their warm congratulations via speeches or videos, recalled their university life, and expressed their deep love to the university. According to them, adhering to the old saying, “It takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to bring up a generation of good men”, over the past 100 years, Nanchang University has trained more than 500,000 outstanding talents for the society. They sincerely hoped that with the accumulation of 100 years of history and the inheritance of faith and responsibility, the university would, based on the new development phase, implement the new development concepts and build a new development pattern, so as to enter into the ranks of the world’s first-class universities as soon as possible and start a new glorious journey from its 100th anniversary.

Professor Jiang Fengyi, the faculty representative, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Vice President of Nanchang University, made a speech on the basis of his 37 years of teaching and research experience. “I love you, Nanchang University; Nanchang University, I love you”, he said unfeignedly. He expressed his gratitude to the university for helping him and his team to realize their ideals and making their careers. He sincerely hoped that the teachers of the university would pay more attention to the construction of the courses of basic theory and practical skills and attach great importance to the training of students’ logical thinking ability. Researchers should stay committed to their research fields, not to follow the general trend, and strive to make more innovations developed from nothing for China’s self-reliance and self-improvement of sci-tech and high-quality industrial development. Students should keep their mission in mind, live up to their prime, study hard, build a solid foundation, and strive to become a pillar of the country. The alumni should help each other and join hands to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, make more contributions to economic construction and social development as well as to the family of Nanchang University.

Wang Chenhan, the student representative majoring in administration from the School of Public Administration, extended her congratulations on Nanchang University for its anniversary. She expressed her gratitude to the university and said that she would keep every moment of her university life in mind. In the future, she will consciously inherit the university’s spirit of “Patriotism, Self-improvement, Innovation, Practice”, devote herself to the task of serving the country, the society, and the people.

The 100th Anniversary opens a new journey of Nanchang University, and NCU will strive to become the first-class university in the future. Yu Xiaoshe said when presiding over the conference that the development of the university has long been highly concerned and valued by the leader of the Party and the country, the Ministry of Education, the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government. General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the university twice, and his kind care has given great encouragement and strength to all faculty members and students. Standing at the historical intersection of the Two Centenary Goals, the university should follow Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, keep strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the unprecedented changes in the world in mind, adhere to developing the university in a socialist way, insist on Marxism holding the guiding position, implement the fundamental task of moral education, accelerate the the construction of high-quality educational system, strengthen self-reliance and self-improvement of sci-tech, and continuously make contribution to promoting national and local economic and social development.

More than 8,000 people attended this grand event, including comrades in charge of relevant departments of Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee, Provincial Government, Provincial People’s Congress and Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, leaders of relevant departments in each district, leaders from 119 sister institutions of higher learning in and outside the province, leaders from 46 high schools providing high-quality students from all over the country, friends from all walks of life, previous leaders of the university, representatives of alumni from all grades, members of the current leading team of the university, representatives of retired staff, teachers students and so on.

The university stays committed to holding a Summit Forum on Promoting the High-quality Development of Jiangxi Industry with Science and Technology of Self-reliance and Self-improvement and gives full play to its decision-making and consulting role as a think tank. On the basis of the university’s preponderant majors and disciplines, the university invites relevant academicians, scholars, entrepreneur representatives, alumni representatives and leaders from government departments to put forward guiding, forward-looking and practical suggestions for the high-quality development of industries in Jiangxi, and to promote the innovation-driven development strategy.