Vice President ZHOU Jianghong meets with delegation from Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein

On the morning of July 2, Dirk Schrödter, Minister for Digitalization and Head of the State Chancellery of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, led a delegation of 48 representatives from political, industrial, and academic sectors, including Ralph Schneider, Vice President of Kiel University, on a visit to Zhejiang University. The delegation was accompanied by CHEN Yanqin, Deputy Director General of Department of Foreign Affairs of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government. Vice President ZHOU Jianghong met with the guests.

ZHOU Jianghong reflected on the nearly 40 years of friendly relations between Zhejiang Province and Schleswig-Holstein, highlighting a series of collaborations between Zhejiang University and universities in Schleswig-Holstein, such as Kiel University, in areas like personnel exchange, joint training, and research innovation. He stressed that Zhejiang University has long been committed to fostering cutting-edge technological innovation and embracing global engagement. He looked forward to exploring new cooperation opportunities in fields such as digitalization, medical technology, and ocean science with partners from Schleswig-Holstein, stating that these endeavors would inject new momentum into the friendly relations between two provinces, the pragmatic Sino-German cooperation, and sustainable development for humanity.

Dirk Schrödter expressed gratitude to Zhejiang University for the warm welcome. He fully acknowledged the university’s rapid development in recent years and the fruitful outcomes of ongoing exchanges. He emphasized that cooperation between universities is a crucial pillar of provincial relations and that international exchanges are vital for advancing scientific innovation. Dirk Schrödter expressed Schleswig-Holstein’s desire to establish long-term, institutionalized cooperative relations with Zhejiang University and to actively open up new focal points for future collaboration.

During the meeting, representatives from the Office of Global Engagement, the Ocean College, the School of Medicine, the Center for Data Science, and the Office of Sci-Tech Research gave presentations. Members of the Schleswig-Holstein delegation engaged in dynamic discussions on a range of topics, such as faculty and student exchanges, university-enterprise cooperation, research funding, and technology transfer. The meeting was moderated by LI Min, Director of the Office of Global Engagement.

The visit underscores the significance of international cooperation in higher education and research. Both Zhejiang University and the delegation from Schleswig-Holstein expressed their commitment to fostering deeper ties and exploring innovative pathways for collaboration. The meeting concluded on an optimistic note, with both sides eager to translate their discussions into concrete actions that will contribute to global scientific progress.