On January 6, 2026, the Innovation and Development Conference for the Internationally Vibrant Central Urban Area of Xuanwu District, Nanjing – the first major conference of the new year – was successfully held, sounding the clarion call for innovative development in the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Sun Litao, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of Southeast University, was invited to attend the conference. He gathered with leaders at the provincial, municipal and district levels, representatives of universities and research institutes in the district, and person-in-charges of key enterprises to jointly discuss the overall plan for university-local collaborative development and the path for the in-depth integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. Centering on the core goal of building an internationally vibrant central urban area during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the conference clearly proposed the implementation of the "Three Foundational Initiatives" and the advancement of four key tasks, providing a guiding framework for deepening university-local cooperation.
As a top university rooted in Nanjing and deeply engaged in Xuanwu District, Southeast University has always maintained a close bond of "mutual growth and win-win cooperation" with Xuanwu District. From the model of university-local collaboration in the renovation of Zhenxiang Block, to the agglomeration of scientific research forces in the Purple Mountain Innovation Belt, and further to the integration of industry, university and research in fields such as data science and artificial intelligence, the faculty and students of Southeast University have injected strong impetus into the transformation and development of Xuanwu District with a pragmatic spirit. At this conference, the university took further concrete actions, with the inauguration of two major bases and the deepening of multiple cooperation projects as the driving force, elevating university-local cooperation to a new level.
At the conference, the Joint Training Base for Elite Engineers of Southeast University and Xuanwu District was officially inaugurated. Inheriting the university's reform orientation of project-based talent cultivation, the base adopts a training model featuring university-enterprise collaboration and tackling practical industrial projects. It accurately aligns with the industrial development needs of Xuanwu District, fosters engineering and technical talents with profound theoretical knowledge and solid practical capabilities, and provides solid talent support for regional industrial upgrading.
The holding of this conference has injected new vitality into university-local collaborative development. With a more open stance and more pragmatic measures, Southeast University will walk hand in hand with Xuanwu District, strive for excellence with resolve on the track of scientific and technological innovation, and deepen cooperation in the practice of industry-education integration. The two sides will jointly write a new chapter of university-local symbiosis and innovative win-win results, and contribute its share to Nanjing's construction of a national innovative city and a world-influential industrial science and technology innovation center.
Text and Images: Song Jia, Chen Yang
Responsible Editor: Liu Yang
Reviewer: Chen Yang
