The Higher Education Roundtable, with the theme of the Rise of Asian Universities, held during the Boao Forum For Asia Annual Conference

----Qiu Yong, President of Tsinghua and the Founding President of the AUA, expounds the role of Asian universities

The Boao Forum For Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2018 was held from April 8th to 11th in Boao, Hainan Province. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. The theme of this year’s BFA Annual Conference was “An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity.”

On April 10th, as one of the official sessions of the BFA Annual Conference 2018, the Higher Education Roundtable, with the theme of the Rise of Asian Universities, was held.

Qiu Yong, President of Tsinghua University and the Founding President of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), attended the Roundtable, together with Muhammad Anis, Rector of Universitas Indonesia and the Executive President of the AUA for 2018-2019, as well as other distinguished guests including Tan Eng Chye, President of the National University of Singapore, Sung Nak-in, President of Seoul National University, Bundhit Eua-arporn, President of Chulalongkorn University, Devang Khakhar, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Abdul Rahim Hashim, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaya, Lakshman Dissanayake, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Shigeo Katsu, President of Nazarbayev University, Sabrina Lin, Vice-President for Institutional Advancement of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Abdullah Alsalman, Vice Rector of King Saud University, and Omar Kyaw, Pro Rector of the University of Yangon.

The participants in the Roundtable conducted a thorough communication, focusing on issues such as the responsibilities and missions of Asian universities, the impact of Asian universities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, innovation, and the transfer of technology.

President Qiu, reflecting on the role of the Asian universities in a fast-changing world, noted in his address at the Roundtable that in recent years, Asian universities have made significant progress, both in quantity and quality. In today’s era of rapid global change, he believes that they will have three important roles to play -- facilitating innovation in Asia, promoting global cooperation in higher education, and contributing unique educational ideas to the global higher education community.

In the discussion and the following Q&A session, Qiu Yong expounded the role of Asian universities in the broader context of a rising Asia, the significance of the AUA, the role of openness in Asian higher education, and Tsinghua’s Global Strategy.

Writer: Zhu Lvhe