The preparatory meeting on the round table conference of China-UK University Consortium on Medicine and Health, which was hosted by Sichuan University and the University of Oxford, convened on the evening of December 13th. The conferenceisheld in collaboration with 19 universities in China and the UK with an online audience. The participating British universities include the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, King's College London, the University of Bristol, the University of Glasgow, the University of Birmingham, Newcastle University, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Southampton, and the University of Nottingham. The participating Chinese universities include Peking University, Fudan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, Central South University, and Sun Yat-Sen University. Zhang Yechu, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Sichuan provincial Party committee, Yao Leye, vice president of Sichuan University, and Li Zhengchi, deputy secretary of the Party committee of Sichuan University, attended the meeting. Yao Leye presided over the meeting.
Li Zhengchi delivered a speech on behalf of Sichuan University and member universities of the Chinese Alliance. He stated that the "China-UK University Consortium on Medicine and Health" is a sustainable international cooperation platform, covering fields such as medical education, talent cultivation, medical research cooperation, transformation of medical innovation achievements, and the construction of a "human health community" think tank.Major global public health issues have become a common challenge that we urgently need to solve. This requires universities, including Chinese and British universities, to work together, deepen innovation cooperation, and jointly shoulder the responsibility and mission of improving human health and well-being. Although China and the UK are thousands of miles apart, we all look forward to using the consortium as a new starting point to actively promote deeper, more comprehensive, and closer cooperation.
Professor Matthew Walters, Dean of the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing at the University of Glasgow, delivered a speech on behalf of the British members. He pointed out that British universities quite agree with the tenet and charter of the Consortium, and are also pleased to join efforts with Chinese universities to provide constructive Chinese and British wisdom to solve global major health problems such as tumors through talent cultivation, high-level scientific research cooperation projects, and so on. British universities look forward to rapid and practical cooperation with Chinese universities.
Zhang Yechu stated in his speech that local governments in Sichuan and the UK have conducted close cooperation in areas such as high-level visits, economic and trade investment, education and research, achieving good results in recent years.
The meeting discussed and approved the "China-UK Cooperation Initiative to Address Global Health Challenges". This initiative proposes solutions to major global health challenges. It will vigorously promote exchanges and cooperation between Chinese universities and British ones in the fields of medicine and health science and assist the formation of international interdisciplinary cooperation in areas such as medical education, talent cultivation, scientific research, medical achievement transformation, and high-quality think tanks for the "Human Health Community,"
This preparatory meeting is another important meeting for the China-UK University Consortium on Medicine and Health, following last year's China-UK University Medical Innovation Forum.
Prior to the preparatory meeting, leaders from nine Chinese universities gathered together to hold the second preparatory meeting for founding member universities. Director Wu Jiagang of the International Office presided over the meeting, and Yao Leye delivered a speech at the preparatory meeting. They discussed the preparation work of the Consortium as well as the content and revision of the proposal.
