On December 24, Nanjing University and Nanjing Municipal People's Government signed a new round of Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Agreement. Zhou Hongbo, Member of the Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Secretary of Nanjing Municipal Committee, and Tan Tieniu, Chair of NJU CPC Council and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), delivered speeches. Li Zhongjun, Acting Mayor of Nanjing Municipal People's Government, and Tan Zhemin, President of NJU and Academician of the CAS, signed the agreement on behalf of both parties and interpreted the cooperation items.

NJU and Nanjing City have long maintained a sound cooperative relationship and formed an all-round pattern of university-local collaboration. At the key juncture of launching the new "15th Five-Year Plan", both parties signed a new round of Comprehensive and deepened strategic cooperation agreement. The content of cooperation is substantive, the level is deep, and the scope is broad, reaching new heights. According to the agreement, NJU will closely center around Nanjing’s "4+6" industrial system, strengthen the layout of new engineering and emerging interdisciplinary subjects, and build disciplinary clusters such as biomedicine and chemical engineering in the Jiangbei campus, while reinforcing the construction of key disciplines such as artificial intelligence, computer science and technology, and new-generation information communications in the Xianlin campus. Both sides will coordinate the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talents, accelerate the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, and carry out in-depth cooperation in disciplinary layout, innovation platforms, achievement transformation, talent cultivation and introduction, and funding support, realizing the two-way empowerment of "renowned city and renowned university", assisting NJU in building a world-class university with Chinese characteristics and supporting Nanjing in constructing the main area bearing the global influence of the industrial technology innovation center.

Zhou Hongbo expressed gratitude to NJU for its support of Nanjing's economic and social development. He said that both sides should work together to deeply study and implement the spirit of the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the important speeches of General Secretary Xi Jinping on Jiangsu's work for the "15th Five-Year Plan", actively integrate into national strategies, leverage respective comparative advantages, and jointly seize major opportunities in co-building the Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) International Science and Technology Innovation Center. They should collaboratively construct a full-chain closed-loop ecosystem from innovation source, achievement transformation to industrial landing, promote deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, build high-level talent agglomeration areas, elevate the level of open innovation cooperation, optimize the layout of new engineering disciplines in Nanjing based on industrial logic, and jointly cultivate new industries. Nanjing will create a more favorable environment for work and living, fully support high-quality development of NJU, serve and support innovation and entrepreneurship for university faculty and students in Nanjing, and better promote the construction of the "Unique Nanjing University."

Tan Tieniu said that the development of NJU is closely tied to that of Nanjing, sharing glory and sorrow together. Standing at the new starting point of the "15th Five-Year Plan", as an important component of the nation's strategic force in science and education and as the leading university in Nanjing, NJU will closely focus on Nanjing's modern industrial system, combining the university's multi-campus construction and "7291 Special Action", and advance with unified consensus, intelligence, and actions to jointly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches on Jiangsu and build a new strategic cluster highland, establish a new ecosystem for science-technology integration, and enhance the new energy level of the talent magnet. NJU will strive with Nanjing for mutual effort to turn collaborative innovation achievements into strong momentum serving high-level technological self-reliance for the nation and the economic and social development of the local region.

Li Zhongjun interpreted the cooperation items between Nanjing and the university. He pointed out that the city is the soil on which the university takes root, and the university is the benchmark of the city’s culture. The new round of strategic cooperation between Nanjing City and NJU will advance education development, technological innovation, and talent cultivation in a multidimensional way, injecting strong momentum for higher-quality development. Taking this signing as an opportunity, Nanjing City will further deepen university-local interface and cooperation, jointly promote deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, precisely empower NJU's construction, concentrate efforts on building strong platforms and carriers, accelerate breakthroughs in achievement transformation, strengthen guarantees in talent introduction, cultivation, and retention, and write a new chapter for university-local integration.

Tan Zhemin gave an in-depth introduction of NJU's cooperative projects. He pointed out that looking to the future, Nanjing University will, with greatest sincerity and most pragmatic actions, fully promote the precise connection between "what Nanjing University is best at" with "what Nanjing needs and “expects", jointly promote the settlement of advantageous and emerging disciplines in Nanjing, jointly facilitate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, jointly advance the construction of major science and technology platforms, and jointly facilitate the agglomeration of high-level talents in Nanjing. At this new historical starting point, NJU will further deepen strategic cooperation with Nanjing City, truly convert the university's advantages in talent, research, and innovation into shared development advantages for both sides, and earnestly implement all tasks for comprehensively deepening cooperation between university and local government.

Deputy Mayor of Nanjing Municipal People's Government Jiang Min, Zhang Yun and NJU leaders Suo Wenbin, Jiao Ruihua, Li Bin, Wen Yu and Sun Leqiang attended the meeting.