To enhance the assistance and support in education in underdeveloped regions, NJU actively promotes a sister school partnership between No. 1 High School of Shuangbai in Yunnan Province and Pui Kiu Middle School in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. On the afternoon of December 12, the online signing ceremony of a sister school partnership between the two schools was held simultaneously in Nanjing, Chuxiong and Hong Kong. 

Present to deliver a speech at the ceremony were Tan Tieniu, Secretary of the CPC NJU Committee and Academician of CAS, Liu Yong, Secretary of the CPC Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and Ye Shuiqiu, Deputy Director of Education & Science Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Lu Yanqing, Vice President of NJU, Wang Xiujiang, Deputy Governor of Chuxiong Autonomous Prefecture, and Jin Hong, Secretary of the CPC Shuangbai County Committee also attended the ceremony. The signing ceremony was presided over by Yang Mengting, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Shuangbai County Committee and Magistrate of Shuangbai County.

Tan Tieniu first expressed his gratitude to the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong, the Education Bureau of Hong Kong, and the Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Government for their precious support. He said that NJU believes that the economic and social development of Shuangbai should lay a solid foundation on education. That is why NJU has been trying hard to promote the education in Shuangbai County. It is NJU’s mission to serve the implementation of national strategy through carrying out targeted assistance and support of underdeveloped regions and promoting rural revitalization. 

He pointed out that the promotion of a sister school partnership between the two middle schools is a focal point for the cooperation between Mainland China and Hong Kong in basic education, a pilot project for the revitalization of rural education and an important base for educating young people to love China and Hong Kong. 

He hoped that the two schools could take the establishment of the partnership as a starting point and strive to become an innovative model for basic education exchanges between the two regions through improved exchange mechanism, enhanced mutual understanding and in-depth cooperation in the new era.

In his speech, Ye Shuiqiu recalled the need emphasized by General-secretary Xi Jinping to strengthen communication and cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland, and to raise the patriotic feelings among Hong Kong youth. Currently, there are more than 2200 pairs of sister schools between Hong Kong and the mainland, and Pui Kiu Middle School and No. 1 High School of Shuangbai are the 18th pair between Hong Kong and Yunnan. 

He pointed out that the sister school partnership has three unique significances. First, it is an innovation as it is promoted by a first-class university in the mainland. Second, it is a benchmark since it is started at a high level thanks to the involvement of NJU, a world-class and century-old institution of higher education. Third, it is a model since it is a joint effort made by Jiangsu, Yunnan and Hong Kong that helps teachers and students of the two schools to broaden their horizons and improve their abilities, turning Shuangbai County into a key education center for the Yi people, and enhancing the sense of Chinese community and patriotism among young students.

Liu Yong expressed his heartfelt thanks to NJU for its generous help for Shuangbai County in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture over the past nine years. He commended NJU on its innovative approach of improving basic education in Shuangbai by coordinating and allocating its educational resources. 

He pointed out that Pui Kiu Middle School is the first Chuxiong-Hong Kong paired school. The pairing not only proves NJU’s great assistance to Chuxiong but also reflects the great expectations on the education in Chuxiong from the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong and Pui Kiu Middle School. 

Not long ago in November, Secretary Tan unveiled a plaque to mark the opening of “National Education Base for Students from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao” at No. 1 High School of Shuangbai. Today he is helping to establish a sister school partnership between the two schools, marking a milestone in the development of educational exchanges between Chuxiong and Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. He hoped that students of the two schools would hold patriotic feelings, strengthen their ambition to repay the country, and serve as the new generation to take on the great responsibility of national rejuvenation.

At the ceremony, Yin Qiong, Principal of No. 1 High School of Shuangbai, and Wu Huanjie, Principal of Pui Kiu Middle School, signed a cooperation agreement. Jin Hong, Secretary of the CPC Shuangbai County Committee, introduced the background of the cooperation between the two schools. Li Yuehua, Deputy Magistrate of Shuangbai county and official on secondment from NJU, introduced the specific details of the cooperation.

Officials from the Domestic Cooperation Office of NJU, Shuangbai County and Pui Kiu Middle School attended the signing ceremony.

Translator: Chen Siying

Editors: Chen Xing, Xu Qida