From August 6 to 13, Lu Lin, Secretary of CPC Committee of Anhui University of Technology (AHUT), led a delegation to Japan and South Korea. They visited University of Toyama,Nagoya Institute of Technology, Hanseo University, Pusan National University, Changwon National University, Korea Institute of Materials Science, and the Consulate General of China in Nagoya, Japan, and the Embassy in South Korea. They also met with the representatives of alumni who are studying and working in Japan and Korea. Members of the delegation included heads of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office, Graduate School, and School of Art and Design.

At the University of Toyama in Japan, the delegation met with President Shigeru Saito. The two sides explored the possibility of cooperation in domains of collaborative training of graduate students, mutual visits of young scholars and joint scientific research, and reached preliminary consensus on signing a memorandum of cooperation. The delegation also visited the Key Laboratory of the Low Carbon Substance Transformation Center of Toyama University.

At the Nagoya Institute of Technology (NIT), the delegation was warmly welcomed by President Makoto Ogata, who pointed out that AHUT and NIT have much in common in the subject setting, scientific research, personnel training and other aspects. President Makoto Ogata expressed his wish for the cooperation between the two sides. The delegation visited the surface coating laboratory led by Professor Wu Songzhu and the artificial intelligence laboratory led by Professor Wang Jianqing.

While visiting Nagoya, the delegation met with Zhang Yanxin from Sanxin Metal Co., LTD., an alumnus of AHUT and the head of the company, who introduced the situation of starting a business in Japan and expressed his sincere desire to help his Alma mater strengthen international exchanges and cooperation with Japan. Lu Lin delivered best wishes to the alumni working and living overseas, and hoped that the alumni would be a good bridge to promote the cooperation between enterprises and the Alma mater, Ma’anshan city and Anhui Province. The delegation introduced the cooperation between AHUT and varied enterprises.

At the Consulate General of China in Nagoya, Lu introduced the major achievements AHUT made in international cooperation since its establishment 66 years ago. Ji Wenbin, Deputy Consul General spoke highly of active promotion of Sino-Japanese international cooperation by experts and scholars of AHUT and assured that he would fully support the high-level exchanges and cooperation between AHUT and well-known Japanese universities such as University of Toyama and Nagoya University of Technology.

At the Seosan Campus of Hanseo University in South Korea, the delegation had in-depth talks with vice presidents Kim Jin-woo and Kim Hyun-sung. The two sides exchanged views on cooperation in the field of aeronautical engineering and industrial design, and signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of design and development of Urban Air mobility (UAM). At the Taean Campus of Henseo University, President Hahm Gi-sun warmly received the delegation and expressed his hope that the two universities could jointly apply for joined programs of Ministry of Education of PRC to generate more exchanges and cooperation results. Lu said that AHUT would spare no efforts in promoting the joined education project to achieve substantive results. During the visit, the delegation visited the Design Integration Center and self-built airport and flight education infrastructure base.

At the Chinese Embassy in South Korea, the delegation had a discussion with Cao Hao, the first Secretary of the Science and Technology Department. Professor Kwon Shik-chul, an expert in the field of surface interface materials, attended the discussion. Lu reviewed the history of long-term friendly exchanges and cooperation between AHUT and Korean universities since the 1990s, and introduced the achievements of AHUT in personnel training, scientific research, teaching staff, and international exchanges and cooperation. Cao spoke highly of the outstanding achievements of ISO international standards in the field of surface technology made by AHUT, and said that he would fully promote the implementation of high-level cooperation projects between AHUT and Korean universities and scientific research institutions to serve the development of science and technology and modern industry in the two countries.

At the Pusan National University, the delegation met with Professor Kim Kwang-ho, director of the Global Frontier Research and Development Center of Composite Interface Materials at the State Key Laboratory of Korea. The two sides had full exchanges on joint training of students, mutual visits of young teachers, joint application of China-South Korea international projects, etc. The heads of key laboratories of the two schools signed a memorandum of cooperation on personnel training and scientific research. The delegation also visited the College of Materials Science and Engineering of National Pusan University. During the visit, Lu and Professor Kwon inaugurated the International Joint Research Center of Interface Engineering, and the heads of the international cooperation and exchange offices and graduate schools of the two schools signed the memorandum of cooperation on BK21 cooperation development and graduate joint training respectively.

At the Changwon National University, President Park Min-won reviewed the exchange and cooperation between the two universities over the past 20 years as well as vision planning of the university, and hoped that AHUT would send more students to study at Changwon National University. Lu said that Changwon National University has been a friendly international partner of our university and looked forward to further deepening and expanding the cooperation between the two sides in student training and other aspects. The two sides renewed a memorandum of understanding on international cooperation and student exchange.

At the Korea Institute of Materials Science, the delegation met with Choi Cheol-jin, director of the institute, Byun Eun-sun, and Lee Sung-hoon. Lu said that as the top research institution in the field of materials in South Korea, the Korea Institute of Materials Science maintains a good cooperative relationship with AHUT. He hoped to further the cooperation between the two sides in the field of talent training and scientific and technological research in the future and well-built sister-city relationship between Ma’anshan and Changwon. The two sides reached cooperation consensus on joint training of graduate students, exchanging young scholars, preparation of international conferences and beyond, and signed a memorandum of cooperation. The delegation also visited the Extreme Environmental Coatings Laboratory of the institute.