New link-up strengthens Sino-Scottish ties

China and Scotland have stepped up efforts to further strengthen educational links as Peking University, also known as PKU, and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, or MoU, on collaborating and establishing joint programs.

The MoU was signed by PKU's President Hao Ping and Strathclyde's Principal Jim McDonald, who was also conferred honorary professorship status at Peking University during an online ceremony on Friday.

The MoU will see the universities, which have many areas of global excellence in common, develop their strategic partnership and explore future collaborations in fields including decarbonization and low carbon, management science, student exchanges and campus sustainability.

Hao said: "Last year saw the establishment of a steering group between our two universities, and the formation of working groups in the areas of decarbonization and sustainable development cooperation, which further promoted the tripartite exchange and collaboration among Peking University, the University of Strathclyde and the Royal Academy of Engineering."

McDonald has supported many collaborations between Strathclyde and Peking University and the United Kingdom and China.

"I am also delighted and honored to make Sir Jim an Honorary Professor at Peking University in recognition of his distinguished contribution and outstanding profile in academia and his significant achievements in the field of energy and power," Hao said.

"Sir Jim McDonald has made significant contributions in promoting collaborations and exchanges in engineering and technology between China and the UK, as well as between Peking University and universities and scientific institutions in the UK."

McDonald said the MoU "represents a highly significant milestone in taking forward Strathclyde's and PKU's ambitious aspirations and joint academic capabilities in many common areas of work, especially in the fields of decarbonization and sustainable development".

Peking University, based in Beijing, is China's first national comprehensive university, with a lineage dating back to the Imperial University of Peking, founded in 1898. The university has played a vital role as the pioneer in the process of China's modernization and has become a cradle for the country to cultivate high-quality and creative talents, a frontier for scientific research and an important base for knowledge innovation, and an important bridge and window for international exchange.

McDonald is a foreign fellow of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering. In January 2020, he was invited by China's Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Council to speak at the Foreign Experts' Symposium, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has since set up a China-UK Forum on Engineering Decarbonization and a steering group to take the work forward.