President Toyoharu Nawa visits Tsinghua University

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  Photo Session at Tsinghua University
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  Presentation by President Toyoharu Nawa

On March 26, 2018, President Toyoharu Nawa, Professor Atsushi Yokota, Dean of the Research Faculty of Agriculture, Professor Takeshi Saitoh, Dean of the Department of Health Sciences, and 5 members from Hokkaido University visited Tsinghua University in Beijing.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss prospective academic collaborations between Japan and China with a representative of Tsinghua University. Officials of the Japanese government, faculties of Hokkaido University and specialists from industries in Hokkaido participated.

On the morning on the 26th, the representatives from Japan met and greeted President Táng Jiāxuán of the China-Japanese Friendship Association. In the afternoon, they visited the Tsinghua University Art Museum and Schwarzman College. Following this, they visited Chen Xu, Chairperson of the University Council.

In the evening, a memorial lecture was held at the lecture hall at Tsinghua University. Harumi Takahashi, Governor of Hokkaido, and President Toyoharu Nawa gave the keynote speeches. Professor Atsushi Yokota, Dean of the Research Faculty of Agriculture, and Professor Takeshi Saito, Dean of the Department of Health Sciences, then introduced their departments respectively. 120 faculty members and students from Tsinghua University attended.

During the keynote, President Toyoharu Nawa introduced activities related to globalization and talked about the current state of academic exchanges between Hokkaido University and universities in China. Next, he elaborated on the collaborations the university has between industries and the government. Finally, he mentioned that the university will focus on establishing new academic discplines fusing various fields, and consider ways for universities in Japan and China to solve global problems, for example, climate change, aging populations and the depletion of natural resources.

Academic collaborations between Hokkaido University and Tsinghua University started in 2003 between the Institute for Catalysis, Hokkaido University, and the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University. Following these achievements, both universities signed an inter-university exchange agreement in June 2008. Hokkaido University will continue to promote academic exchanges between Hokkaido University and Tsinghua University.