On the afternoon of February 18, Bao Xinhe, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of the University of Science and Technology of China, visited Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research. He was accompanied by Chu Jiaru, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of USTC, and Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive Dean of SIAR, Tu Jing, Executive Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of SIAR, and Ni Rui, Vice President of SIAR.

President Bao first participated in the 2023 USTC Suzhou Alumni Annual Conference Forum, had a pleasant conversation with the alumni and delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He introduced USTC’s achievements in the world's frontier science and technology as well as serving the national strategic needs and regional social and economic development in recent years. He thanked the local government and alumni for their help to the development of USTC over the years, hoped that the alumni will continue to support their alma mater, and contribute to the development of USTC. More than 200 alumni listened to President Bao's speech and gave him thunderous applause.

On the Ren'ai Road Campus, President Bao communicated with the team of Academician Jiang Lei to discuss the development plan and discipline construction in the field of nano and bionic science and technology, and to formulate characteristic training programs and build new curriculum system and talent training mode.

On the Ruoshui Road Campus, he greeted the faculty and students in the laboratory, asked in detail about the research progress and the students’ living conditions such as dining and accommodation, and took photos with teachers and students.

After the campus visit, Academician Jiang Lei, Academician Zhang Jie, Professor Pan Tingrui, Professor Xu Xiaorong, Professor Zhang Zhong, Professor Weng Qingxiong, leaders of SIAR and representatives of Ruoshui Road Campus Design Unit attended the research symposium. President Bao successively listened to reports on Ruoshui Road campus construction planning, personnel training and international cooperation. He recognized the work of SIAR in accelerating campus construction and planning the development of related disciplines, and offered guidance on layout planning and style design of Ruoshui Road campus.

Bao said that the construction of SIAR is a key project of USTC and the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government. Both parties have given strong support in talent introduction, discipline development, scientific research platform and campus construction, and SIAR should coordinate all work in accordance with the strategic agreement and requirements made by both parties. He emphasized that Ruoshui Road Campus will be the main location for the future talent training of SIAR. We should adhere to the USTC style of pursuit of excellence, truth-seeking and pragmatism in its construction, and lay a solid foundation for the further development of SIAR.