On the morning of January 7, 2023, the Fifth Meeting of the Sixth Council of Alumni Association of NJU and the 2022 NJU Alumni Work Conference met in the Lecture Hall of Duxia Library at Xianlin Campus. Present at the meeting were Tan Zhemin, Academician of the CAS and Vice President of NJU, Gong Yue, Standing member of the CPC NJU Committee and Director of Organization Department, executive directors of the Association including Hang Zhuhong, Tao Wei, Huang Jianliang, Zhang Zhihong, Lu Chaoyang, Zheng Gang, Yin Sanhong, Yin Jiankang, Jia Xyudong, some members of the Association, representatives from other alumni organizations as well as heads of relevant NJU departments. The meeting was chaired by Zou Yajun, Standing Member of the CPC NJU Committee and Vice President of NJU.

The meeting was carried out on- and offline. A total of 66 representatives from 36 alumni organizations and 3 colleges attended the meeting offline, while over 200 participants attended it online, including 74 supervisors and executive directors of alumni organizations. Given that the Alumni Association is composed of 196 members, the number of attendees met the requirement for holding a council meeting.

Lyu Jian, President of NJU and Chairman of the Alumni Association, delivered a speech via video. On behalf of the University, he first extended a warm welcome to all alumni attending the meeting. Lyu then fully acknowledged the good reputation and social influence the alumni have won for NJU during its 120th anniversary celebration and expressed special thanks to alumni communities and organizations both at home and abroad for their attention to and participation in the celebration of NJU’s 120th anniversary, and for their hard work in and remarkable contributions to alumni events. He introduced the recent progress made by the University in talent cultivation, discipline construction, teaching and scientific research, campus construction, etc. He also mentioned NJU’s vigorous and unremitting endeavors to build itself into a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, fully implement the fundamental task of strengthening moral education and cultivating talents, strive for self-reliance in science and technology, unswervingly enhance cultural confidence, and develop its education into its full potential. The progress and achievements made in all aspects could not have been achieved without the attention, support, advice, donations and efforts of the alumni. At this critical juncture as NJU embarks on a new journey, he hoped that alumni both at home and abroad would work together with the University to accelerate the construction of the “Unique NJU” that ranks among world-class universities and embodies Chinese characteristics.

2022 witnessed the 120th anniversary of NJU. The alumni both in group and in person from all over the world have played an active role in the anniversary celebration. NJU decided to honor some of these organizations and individuals for their exceptional contributions. Vice President Tan Zhemin declared the “The Decision of NJU on the Presentation of ‘Award for Outstanding Contributions in Alumni Events in the 120th Anniversary Celebration’”. 62 alumni organizations and 242 individuals got the awards.

Tan Zhemin, Zou Yajun, and Gong Yue respectively presented the awards to the three batches of winning organizations and the first batch of individual winners. Yin Sanhong, Hang Zhuhong, Yin Jiankang and Jia Xudong presented the awards to the second and third batch of individual winners respectively.

Zou Yajun delivered a report on the work of the Alumni Association in 2022. The report reviewed and summarized the alumni work from the following five aspects: “united as one, all NJUers celebrate the 120th anniversary of NJU and compose a magnificent chapter”; “making all-round efforts to strengthen the organization construction by enhancing political awareness and standardizing regulation”, “advancing the alumni work by forging closer ties and providing better service”, “implementing the ‘Alumni for NJU Strategy’ by deepening the cooperation between alumni and the University for the key tasks” and “launching the preparation and election for the Seventh Meeting of the Alumni Representative Committee of NJU, in a bid to inherit the past and forge ahead into the future”. In 2022, with the strong support of all the alumni, the Alumni Association Secretariat has stayed committed to the school’s core work and fully implemented the “Alumni for NJU” strategy. Centering around the celebration of the 120th anniversary of NJU, the secretariat has thoroughly implemented the principle of “serving alumni, serving the alma mater, and serving the society”, kept innovating its working method and service, and carried out its work in a more standardized and professional manner.  It has deeply studied and effectively implemented the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, and initiated “the Great Discussion” activity on the theme of “comprehensively implementing the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, accelerating the construction of the ‘Unique NJU’”. Against the complicated backdrop of the pandemic, the secretariat has carried out its work in an orderly and stable way, significantly propping up the development of the University. In the future, the secretariate will continue to further gather and unite global alumni resources, in a bid to contribute to the construction of the “Unique NJU”.

The meeting approved “The Proposal of the Sixth Council of the Alumni Association of NJU for postponing the Election” after Zhang Suogeng, Secretary-general of the Alumni Association, accounted for the proposal. All 66 representatives attending offline agreed unanimously, and representatives online also voted in favor of the proposal. In view of the voting results, the Secretariate of Alumni Association will submit a request for the postponement of election to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Education.

In order to deeply study, publicize and implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and General Secretary Xi Jinping's thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and the important reply from Xi Jinping to NJU’s young scholars who have returned to China from overseas studies, continuously explore how to build a world-class university with Chinese characteristics and improve administration and regulation standard, NJU has initiated “the Great Discussion” activity on the theme of “comprehensively implementing the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, accelerating the construction of the ‘Unique NJU’”. Under the guidance of Secretary Tan Tieniu, the secretariat, in cooperation with the Office of CPC NJU Committee, sent signed letters from Tan to 737 alumni who are currently working in government departments in Jiangsu Province to convey greetings and solicit opinions. In response to the University’s call for advice from all parties related, Zhao Guofang, Deputy Secretary-general of the aAssociation, called on all alumni to pay more attention to the development of the alma mater and contribute their wisdom and strength so as to spot the problems in the development of the University and propose corresponding solutions.

Qiu Jiliang, Deputy Secretary-general of the Alumni Association and Vice President and Secretary-general of the Alumni Association at Shanghai, shared the activities they undertook for the 120th anniversary celebration, their effects and the director group’s work experience. Mao Yonggang, Vice President and Secretary-general of the Alumni Association at Jiangxi, introduced the standardized election process of their association, the principle of “enhancing political awareness and observing political rules” and the characteristics of “emphasizing tradition, unity, cooperation and dedication”. Zhang Chengning, President of the Alumni Association in North America, introduced the preparation of the “International Academic Forum to Commemorate Dr. Wu Jianxiong’s 110th Birth Anniversary”. Zhang Xiaosi, Secretary-general of the Alumni Association at Honk Kong, introduced their new council members. Chen Yiqing, President of the Alumni Association in the field of international medical and health care, introduced the association’s tenet, namely highlighting characteristics of the industry, leveraging advantages of the industry, making contributions by expertise, facilitating communication and serving alumni. Li Liang, Vice Secretary-general of the Alumni Association in the field of environment, shared the background of the documentary “Monument”, which traces the history of the Science Building. Zheng Gang, Honorary Board Member of NJU and Executive Director of the Alumni Association, proposed particularly suggestions on further improvement of the NJU alumni work based on the “Great Discussion”. Shen Mengmeng, Secretary-general of the Innovation Service Center of Nanjing Overseas Alumni, put forward several suggestions on overseas alumni service and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of NJU with the help of capital.

Zou Yajun summarized the meeting, saying that 2022 was an extraordinary year of harvest for NJU and its alumni. Remarkable achievements have been made in talent cultivation, teaching quality promotion as well as discipline evaluation. The 120th anniversary celebration has been successfully held. Another class of freshmen have settled on Gulou campus, while the first enrollment of NJU at Suzhou was successfully completed. The alumni group have also made notable achievements and won a good reputation for the alma mater. The development of NJU relies on the wisdom and strength of alumni. Zou, therefore, expressed gratitude for their attention and support. He also reminded the alumni of the “Great Discussion” being carried out and called on alumni to pool their wisdom and provide valuable advice to the development of NJU. He hoped that alumni organizations and their members both at home and abroad can march ahead with courage in the new era, jointly build a platform to provide resources to help NJU to achieve more and become a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, traits of NJU, and characteristics of the times.

Translator: Guo Siqi

Editors: Chen Xing, He Yao