On November 9, at the meeting with Liu Xiaotao, Member of the Standing Committee of CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Secretary of CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee, Professor Bao Xinhe, the Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of USTC, appreciated the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee for its long-term backing. Mr Liu touted USTC as a world-class university, with which Suzhou would continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation.

Together with Wu Qingwen, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee and Mayor of Suzhou, Prof. Bao greeted the delegation of the University of Queensland (UQ). UQ President Deborah Terry put them in the picture of the university, whilst Mr Wu briefed her on Suzhou's industrial, educational, science and technology sectors. He encouraged USTC and UQ to enhance cooperation and then play the important role of Suzhou as a talent highland.

Prof. Bao sat down with the UQ delegation at SIAR. The symposium was chaired by Chu Jiaru, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of USTC, Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive Dean of SIAR. The conferees included USTC president assistant Xue Tian; Qu Kun, Director of USTC's Office of International Cooperation and Exchange; Zhou Shaohua, Executive Dean of the School of Biomedical Engineering; Zhang Jie, Member of the United States National Academy of Engineering; and SIAR vice presidents Tu Jing and Ni Rui.

As both USTC and UQ are world-renowned universities, promoting their cooperation in relevant fields through academic and talent exchanges will further enhance their academic influence and contribute to exchanges between China and Australia, according to Prof. Bao.

Xue Tian briefed the delegation on USTC and SIAR's discipline construction, personnel training, scientific research and international cooperation. UQ Vice President Brett Lovegrove introduced the development of UQ and its international cooperation with Chinese universities. He proposed to work hand in hand with USTC in personnel training and scientific research cooperation on the present basis.

Additionally, they exchanged views on joint training of graduate students, scientific research cooperation, and achievement transformation.

The University of Queensland is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities and a member of APRU, Group of Eight, UNIVERSITAS 21, UIC and the New Engineering Education International Alliance.