Prompt: From May 19 to 21, the third General Meeting & the eleventh National Alumni Congress of Huazhong Agricultural University Alumni Association were held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Nearly 500 representatives gathered together and had in-depth exchanges on the theme of “Loving, Glorifying and Prospering HZAU by Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Creation.”
Mr. Yuan Yongkang, deputy district chief of Hongshan District in Wuhan, highlighted the local development, where the University is located. In the speech, he stated that the district was a booster for innovation and entrepreneurship, a popular choice for market entities, as well as a hotbed for incubation, stability and prosperity of enterprises. Therefore, HZAU’s alumni were warmly welcomed to invest in projects or technology and start businesses in Hongshan. Yuan has pledged the local government would be committed to being a service provider who is always ready to help but does not interfere. All in all, it would provide entrepreneurs with access to a pleasant ecological environment, an attractive business climate and a livable city.
Under the theme of “Unity, Cohesion and Service”, the third Alumni Association would further improve its organization and services as a better platform for cooperation, according to President Li Zhaohu, a new president of the council of Huazhong Agricultural University Alumni Association (HZAUAA). Guided by the concept of “HZAU will prosper only when its alumni thrive”, the university, as always, would attach importance to administration of alumni affairs. All alumni would unite as one to support the strategic growth and advancement of the University. “Roots are to a towering tree what alumni are to a university, and that’s why I expect that alumni with broader outlook and more endeavors would join hands together to create a brighter future for all HZAUers, our people and nation.” he added.
Prof. Gao Chi, secretary of the Party Committee of HZAU, encouraged all alumni to read more books, keep learning, and adhere to the spirits of Jiangsu Province, Wuhan City and HZAU motto—“Aggressiveness & Innovation, Honesty & Integrity, Respect Talents & Professional Ethics, Erudition & Philanthropism”, “Daring to be the First and Striving for Excellence”, and “Learn and Practice, Achieve and Help Achieve,” respectively. Gao remarked it was an imperative for everyone to enrich the spiritual world because books and beliefs matter. He urged all alumni to forge ahead in unity with the resolve and tenacity, and keep moving forward with broader views and positive attitudes. In his speech, he reiterated it was vital for all alumni to be self-reliant and obliging, strengthen the integration of industry, education and research, multi-disciplinary integration, integration of management and market, the convergence of primary, secondary and tertiary industry, the integration of talent chain, innovation chain and industry chain, strengthen the cooperation among universities to cultivate talents, and create an innovation network. It is hoped all alumni strive to be the “pioneers” or “boosters” in all trades and professions. They were expected to propel social development and advance the progress of human civilization. And he encouraged all to keep in mind their mission to dedicate to people’s happiness, national prosperity and rejuvenation.
During the meeting, alumni representatives expressed appreciation for schoolfellows, teachers and the alma mater, and shared the highlights of alumni clubs around the world in gathering, serving graduates and exploiting resources.
The congress featured alumni salon, keynote presentation, signing ceremony of strategic cooperation between HZAU and enterprises, the entrepreneurial forum, and visits to alumni enterprises. And HZAUAA turned itself into a both powerhouse for innovation, entrepreneurship and creation, and a platform for liaison and cooperation.
Alumni Salon was further divided into Agritech Development & Transformation Salon, High-Quality Development of Food Health Industry Salon and Life & Health Industry-University-Research Innovation Salon, where heads of HZAU, scholars and alumni representatives exchanged ideas.
Two HZAU alumni, members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, were invited to give keynote presentations. Firstly, in themed speech on “Providing Healthy and Eco-Friendly Food Choices”, Prof. Zhang Qifa introduced the concept of “Green Super Rice” and the new model of “Shuangshui Shuanglü” farming, and proposed to “choose whole grain as staple food and promote black rice as a new staple food”. The second speaker, Prof. Deng Zixin, delivered an address on “Leveraging the Subversive Innovation of Health Technology and Industry with Synthetic Biology.” And he pointed out that it was urgent for synthetic biology to open up new avenues for innovation in health industry by the three ways of forming natural substance: natural screening, pathway engineering and interdisciplinary integration.
Centered on “Innovative Development of Life & Health and Bio-industry”, eight alumni representatives shared their stories of innovation, entrepreneurship, and achievements and provided insights and reflections on their experiences at the Entrepreneurs Forum.
Source: http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2023/0522/66623.shtml
Translated by: Luo Huiying
Supervised by: Guo Haiyan
