Singapore, Chinese universities sign MOUs to step up collaboration

Three Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) were signed here Monday between top Singapore and Chinese universities to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The signing of MOUs between National University of Singapore (NUS) and Tsinghua University, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Peking University, as well as Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Zhejiang University was witnessed by Singapore's Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung and China's Ambassador to Singapore Chen Xiaodong.

Singapore's Acting Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung said the strengthening of partnerships between universities from China and Singapore is a key outcome from Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Singapore last month.

"This latest collaboration builds upon years of partnership between our universities," said Ong, "It's befitting that the latest MOUs will further strengthen and deepen their collaboration."

China's Ambassador to Singapore Chen Xiaodong echoed with Ong in his speech, saying China-Singapore education cooperation has been an important engine driving up people-to-people exchanges and the overall bilateral relationships.

"With the signing of today's MOUs, our higher education cooperation will be further strengthened, and it will also give a strong boost to our bilateral relations." said Chen at the signing ceremony.

NUS and Tsinghua University will be focusing on joint research and development in areas such as data science and data analytics. The two universities will also identify opportunities for the commercialization of technology.

"This MOU will build on existing strong collaborations between NUS and Tsinghua University in student and faculty exchanges, joint research and development." said Professor Tan Eng Chye, Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost of NUS, "We are confident that this partnership will grow from strength to strength."

NTU and Peking University (PKU) will establish a Joint NTU-PKU Research Institute whose research areas include multi-modal big data analytics technologies for smart cities and human-centered technologies for healthy living and lifelong learning.

The joint research institute will support Singapore's Smart Nation vision that harnesses technology and data to improve living standards, strengthen communities, and create more business opportunities.

Meanwhile, SUTD and Zhejiang University will establish a SUTD-ZJU "Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Alliance" (IDEA), focusing on design innovation in China and Singapore in areas of manufacturing, urbanization and sustainability.

"With the program IDEA, we hope we can be able to produce what we call 'China savvy' entrepreneurs who can contribute to the exciting development of bilateral relations," said Professor Chong Tow Chong, Provost of SUTD.

Professor Song Yonghua, Executive Vice President of Zhejiang University, also told Xinhua that IDEA will enable the two universities to harness their strengths in design and engineering to jointly pursue scholarly activities and eventually translate them into viable commercial outcomes in the market.

The collaborations between the Singapore and Chinese universities will be funded through a donation of 150 million yuan (33 million Singapore dollars) from the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, with each pair of universities receiving 50 million yuan (11 million Singapore dollars). Endit