A delegation of high-ranking representatives of Chinese universities met with Prof. Aghamiri, president of Shahid Beheshti University (SBU), and discussed ways to develop scientific cooperation.
This meeting, which was held jointly by the Faculty of Economics and Political Science and the International Scientific Cooperation Directorate on Monday, December 25, 2023, aimed at exchanging opinions and examining ways to develop scientific and academic cooperation with Chinese universities in line with the university's plans and strategies, as well as the recent agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Welcoming the guests and announcing his readiness to carry out joint scientific and research activities and take advantage of the abilities and capacities of the Chinese People's Institute and other departments, Prof. Aghamiri stated: “SBU as one of the comprehensive and large universities in the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the production of technology in both hardware and software fields.”
The president of the university continued: “The technology and knowledge obtained by the people of the world is very impressive. Technology has greatly improved the ground for communication between people; people can easily find out about each other and also about the events and happenings in all parts of the world; this technology has brought knowledge that can change everything.”
Referring to the position and role of universities in changing the world, Prof. Aghamiri stated: “Universities are the origin of technology and our connection with scientific centers and institutes can help change the world. Technology in the fields of software and movements to take advantage of the power of human sciences is very helpful.”
The president of the university emphasized on joint scientific and research cooperation and added: “We believe that the unipolar and bipolar view of the world no longer makes sense, but every country that believes in the power of science and strives in this way is itself a pole and a power. With this logic, we welcome all those who can cooperate with us in this direction, and we are ready to cooperate with all the researchers of the world.”
Expressing his satisfaction for attending SBU, Li Jie, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), stated on behalf of the Chinese delegation: “our cooperation under the framework of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are brilliant ideas. We will take serious consideration, and convey the messages to relevant authorities and institutions when we are back in China.”
Examining the fields of joint cooperation between the researchers of the two countries, Li Jie noted: “We are now a country that has already pushed into operation the third generation of generators of nuclear power stations. And the total amount of power generated by nuclear power in China will increase dramatically. The power stations in construction in China, I think, takes up over 50 percent of the total in the world. And surely, this is a great strategy of China to work for the climate change initiatives; we are taking the lead to see that a developing country like China can make really practical contribution to the climate change.”
Li Jie pointed to China's scientific and technological activities in the field of developing new technologies. Enumerating the fields of joint cooperation, he said: “Electric vehicles is one of the areas where we could discuss in professional ways with your colleagues here. Yesterday one of your colleagues attending the China-Iran think-tank forum mentioned a very important issue. He asked the question of how could Iran be a part of the production chain of value chain of China. One of our colleagues offers the idea of considering the development of hydro power. Of course, that's certainly something technical and subject to policy concerns. We are very strong in hydropower development and surely other experts discussed extensively Iran's participation in the value chain of green energy, and green facilities developed like the EV. We have the best technologies. We are the largest producer and we are the largest exporter of electric vehicles worldwide and of course China is the largest market selling EVs. This is the prospect for future manufacturing of vehicles. Iran has the great benefits of the supply of oil. Of course, there is a need in the long term for the transition to green energy. How could that be fitting to the 25-year plan of development? Our scholars will go back to take further discussions with yours.”
Li Jie continued: “I also agree fully with Mr. president concerning the role education plays in the process of national development, and social economic development of a country. That is a philosophy and China has practiced for the past years to give high priority to development of education of the country. And it pays very much rewarding for China to have huge amount of investment in education. And in that way, we produce over 10 million high school graduates, including bachelors, masters, and PhDs, a year. And 60% of them are in the disciplines of science and technology, and natural sciences. And therefore, we are a country that has the greatest number of engineers, either social or medicine, science or medicine, etc. And that is, I think, an area I would recommend our colleagues from your esteemed university to discuss further with your Chinese partners.”
Announcing his readiness to carry out joint activities, he added: “I would like to put forward formally here that we would like to extend a kind intention of establishing a partnership relationship with Shahid Beheshti University. I just made a self-presentation. We are a think tank and also an institution in diplomatic international cooperation. We are a respected and prestigious people's diplomacy institute, established just after New China. So we have 70... five years, four years of history. And we have the partnership with quite a number of universities worldwide, and of course, many think tanks. We conduct forums on mechanisms with over 20 countries a year, and we have professional exchanges with over 120 countries in the world. So that is a kind proposal.”
Li Jie invited the president of the university to travel to China and visit the Chinese People's Institute of International Studies and said: “I would here like to extend on behalf of our President, Mr. Wang Chao, to invite a delegation from your university to visit China. Mr. Wang Chao, our president, was the Deputy Foreign Minister before he came to the office. He was also the Deputy Commerce Minister of China. And he is now also the Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress and a member of the National People's Congress. So, you see, we are not only an NGO, we have also a very strong official affiliation.”
This meeting was attended by some deans and faculty members of the faculties and research institutes of the university in fields related to social sciences, political sciences and international relations.