On August 29, 2018, a delegation of seven led by Ms. Qi Xiaoxia, Director-General of the Bureau of International Cooperation, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), visited Tongji University where she listened to the report on the situation and development plan for Tongji Base for Research on International Cyberspace Governance. The symposium was attended by Wu Guangming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Tongji, Jiang Bo, a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of Tongji, Zhu Dazhang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Director of the Publicity Department of Tongji, leaders from the Liberal Arts Office and other functions, together with some experts from the research team at the base.

      Vice President Jiang extended a warm welcome to Director-General Qi and her delegation for visiting Tongji. He introduced Tongji’s progress under the “Double First-Class” initiative, and then said that Tongji will strongly support the base that is expected to make greater contributions to the development of interdisciplinary institutions and platforms. Deputy Secretary Wu Guangming warmly welcomed the experts from CAC and MOE for their guidance, saying that the university will give full support to the base at Tongji.

      Director-General Qi introduced the application and approval of the bases, and expressed sincere congratulations on Tongji’s standing out from the 54 applicants. She introduced the purpose of this trip, and emphasized that the first batch of 10 bases should carefully study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thought on cyberspace governance, and play a positive role in studying the international cyberspace governance rules and participating in the international cyberspace organizations’ activities.

      Prof. Men Honghua, Director of Tongji Base for Research on International Cyberspace Governance, Dean of our school, and President of the Institute for China & World Studies at Tongji University, elaborated on the application, development and planning of the base. He pointed out that the application and related studies have been strongly supported by the leadership of Tongji. The university has held many coordination meetings to request our school and the Institute for China & World Studies to step up work arrangements and draft development plans as soon as possible, in an effort to produce high-quality results soon. During its application and development process, the base has also received strong support from relevant organizations and institutions inside and outside Tongji, including the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Public Security, Baidu Group, and 360 Government & Enterprise Security Group, etc. Relying on the Institute for China & World Studies, the base has attracted a batch of experts in political science, international relations, management science, information security, network communication, language strategy and other disciplines to establish a Center for International Cyberspace Studies at Tongji. Our goal is to build a think tank platform, a talent cultivation system, a discipline group, a research team, and an international exchange and cooperation network with international strategy for cyberspace as the core.

      At the report meeting, Tongji publicity head Zhu Dazhang introduced the practical experience in cyberspace governance in Tongji along with the work of the Office of Cyberspace Administration, and expressed strong support for the development of the base through project entrustment and other methods.

      Afterwards, the members of the delegation gave speeches one by one. They highly appraised the work report and put forward constructive suggestions for the next steps. Xu Feng, division head at CAC, and Prof. Zhou Xuefeng, Vice Dean of the Law School of Beihang University and Executive Deputy Director of the Beihang Base, expressed clear expectations for the Tongji Base. Pan Runkai from the Department of Science, Technology and Informatization of MOE said that MOE will strongly support the development of the Tongji Base through full cooperation with the CAC.

      In her concluding remarks, Director-General Qi highly praised the efforts of Tongji Base in the application, development and planning. She particularly recognized the strong support from the leadership of Tongji, the careful preparations by the Tongji Base, and the joint efforts by internal and external institutions and organizations in forming an efficient teaching and research team that promotes the Base development in all aspects. She also suggested a sound plan for the future development of the Base. She expected the Tongji Base to give full play to its advantages, focus on special research, strengthen decision-making consultation, and cultivate professional talents, thus making contributions to General Secretary Xi’s strategy of building the nation into a cyberpower (cyberspace powerhouse).

      After the symposium, Chen Jie, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Tongji University, cordially received Qi’s group, and had friendly exchanges on the development of Tongji Base and the ministry-university cooperation.

(Source: General Office of Tongji Base)