Sept. 27, 2024  |  International Office, President Office

On the occasion of the 64th anniversary of Shanghai Polytechnic University as well as the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, a series of activities of SSPU French Day were successfully held from Sept. 23 to 26 in order to promote Sino-French education cooperation and people-to-people exchanges and to deepen collaboration between SSPU and French universities.

On the morning of Sept. 25, the opening ceremony of SSPU French Day was held at the Academic Exchange Center. Salomé Rodrigues, Higher Education Officer of the Cultural and Scientific Department of the Consulate General of France in Shanghai, Françoise Grolleau, President of University of Angers in France and her delegation, SSPU Party Secretary Lu Min, SSPU President Xie Huaqing, Deputy Secretary of SSPU Party Committee Wu Peidong, SSPU Vice President Xu Yufang, heads of administrative and teaching departments, teachers and students representatives attended the event. Wu Peidong presided over the opening ceremony.

Lu Min delivered a welcome speech and announced the opening of SSPU French Day. He said that SSPU has always maintained friendly and stable cooperative relations with French universities among which it has especially carried out in-depth exchanges and cooperation with University of Angers in various fields such as student exchange, foreign expert program, joint research and faculty exchanges. It is hoped that the cultural exchanges between China and France could be deepened, the friendship between SSPU and University of Angers enhanced and in-depth cooperation between the two universities including talent cultivation, discipline construction, scientific research promoted. He hoped that the two universities can take the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France as a new starting point to work hand in hand and open a new chapter of Sino-French education exchanges and cooperation.

Françoise Grolleau, President of University of Angers, made a speech and introduced the development of the university. She congratulated SSPU on its 64th anniversary and spoke highly of the achievements that SSPU gained in recent years. She expressed the willingness to actively promote the in-depth exchanges and cooperation between the two universities in various fields.

SSPU President Xie Huaqing made a report on the latest achievements of SSPU development. His speech was divided into three parts including SSPU overview, recent achievements and cooperation prospects. He introduced to the guests the basic information about SSPU such as schooling characteristics, campus layout and university scale as well as the development and achievements in recent years such as institutional setup, master degree construction, industry-education integration, international exchanges and cooperation. President Xie hoped that SSPU and University of Angers would strengthen close communication and work together to implement the cooperation proposals reached by both sides during the French Day.

The signing ceremony of the agreement on the exchange student program between SSPU and University of Angers was held at the opening ceremony. President Xie Huaqing and President Françoise Grolleau signed the agreement on behalf of the two universities. Salomé Rodrigues, Higher Education Officer of the Cultural and Scientific Department of the Consulate General of France in Shanghai, Patrice Mangeard, Director of Institute of Technology (IoT) of University of Angers, and SSPU Party Secretary Lu Min witnessed the signing.

Lu Min presented the Certificate of Appointment of SSPU Council Member to President Françoise Grolleau. Xie Huaqing presented the Certificate of Appointment of Special Visiting Expert to Anis Abdessalem, Assistant Professor of IoT Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Angers, and Alain Clément, Senior Lecturer of IoT Electrical Engineering and Industrial Computing Department, University of Angers.

There were also a series of colorful activities held throughout the week including high-level meetings, academic reports, meetings with schools and study abroad fair.

Among the activities, SSPU leaders held bilateral talks with the visiting partner universities. SSPU President Xie Huaqing and Deputy Secretary of SSPU Party Committee Wu Peidong met with President Françoise Grolleau and delegation of University of Angers, France. Xie Huaqing also met with Mara Nikolaidou, Rector of Harokopio University of Athens, Greece. SSPU exchanged views and reached consensus with the two partner universities on joint training of Ph.D. students, joint research, faculty exchange and student exchange, etc.

Appointed as special visiting experts of SSPU, Anis Abdessalem and Alain Clément respectively made academic reports to the faculty and students of School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Control Engineering and School of Computer and Information Engineering. Mara Nikolaidou, Rector of Harokopio University of Athens, Greece, participated in 2024 IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Computer and Information Science held by SSPU and made a keynote report. The delegation of University of Angers also had meetings with School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Control Engineering, School of Computer and Information Engineering and School of Economics and Management.

On the day of the French Day, the study abroad fair was held at the lobby of Building 15. Universities and institutions from France and other countries including University of Angers and University of Bordeaux participated in the activity which attracted many teachers and students. SSPU Deputy Party Secretary Wu Peidong joined in the event. The participating universities and institutions were popular among the students when they introduced their schools and programs and answered their concerns through communication and interaction. 

As one the of series activities to celebrate the 64th anniversary of SSPU, the French Day has played a positive role in promoting Sino-French education and culture cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, deepening further cooperation between SSPU and French universities including the University of Angers, and injecting new vitality into the internationalization of SSPU.