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 The newly-appointed Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC in Macao SAR Mr. Hu Zhengyue (5th from left) visits UM
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UM’s Vice Rector (Research) Prof. Rui Martins (1st from right) tells Mr. Hu Zhengyue (2nd from left) about the development of the state key laboratory
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 Prof. Iu Vai Pan tells Mr. Hu Zhengyue about the East Asia College

On 21 September the newly-appointed Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Macao SAR Mr. Hu Zhengyue visited the University of Macau (UM). He was warmly received by UM’s management personnel. Mr. Hu noted that higher education plays a very important role in promoting the development of Macao and China, and after the new UM campus is put into use, the hardware facilities and teaching software will complement each other and combine to help UM to pursue the goal of becoming a world-class institution and nurturing more outstanding professionals for Macao and China.

Mr. Hu was accompanied by, among others, Deputy Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC in Macao SAR Mr. Song Yanbin and Director-General of the Department of Policy Research of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC in Macao SAR Mr. Zhang Wuzhuan. They exchanged views on a range of issues with UM Rector Wei Zhao, UM Vice Rectors Prof. Rui Martins and Dr. Alex Lai, Head of UM’s East Asia College Prof. Iu Vai Pan, and Head of UM’s Information and Public Relations Office Ms. Katrina Cheong.

During the visit, Mr. Hu relayed the message that the state leaders care about and support the development of UM. He noted that higher education plays a very important role in promoting the development of Macao and China, and with the support of the central government, UM is about to enter a new development stage; and after the new campus is put into use, the hardware facilities and teaching software will complement each other and combine to help UM to pursue the goal of becoming a world-class institution. He further added that the new UM campus is a significant undertaking not just for UM and Macao people, but for the country as a whole in that it is a reflection of the “one country, two systems” policy. Mr. Hu noted that the fact that the central government allocated a piece of land to Macao SAR for the construction of the new UM campus shows that the central government attaches great importance to the development of higher education in Macao. He said that he hopes UM can make good use of the opportunities brought by the new campus and step up efforts in academic research, scientific research and student training in order to nurture more outstanding professionals for Macao and China. He added that he hopes to strengthen cooperation with UM in the future and work together to further the development of higher education in Macao.

UM Rector Wei Zhao profusely thanked Mr. Hu and his colleagues for visiting UM. Wei Zhao said that in order not to fail the high expectations of the state leaders and also to repay the great support of the Macao SAR government and local residents, UM has already exerted an all-out effort in launching a series of reform measures in teaching, research and university governance. He said these reform measures have achieved good results and have also reinforced UM’s confidence to pursue the goal of becoming a world-class institution. Wei Zhao also disclosed that UM is now in the process of revising the UM Charter for the second time in an attempt to better support UM’s development after its relocation to the new campus. Wei Zhao added that the Charter revision will create necessary conditions for UM to pursue the goal of becoming a world-class institution and once the revision is completed UM will have more flexibility in terms of governance.

Mr. Hu and his colleagues later visited UM’s State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI) and the East Asia College to learn more about the research achievements of the state key laboratory and the education mode of the residential college.