From June 14 to 17, Vice President Kong Jie led a delegation from Northwestern Polytechnical University(NPU) to Italy. The delegation attended the 2026 China–Europe Dialogue of Presidents of Excellence Universities and reached a series of cooperation agreements with the Polytechnic University of Turin and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization（ITCILO）, advancing NPU's global partnerships to a higher level.
Attending the 2026 China–Europe Dialogue of Presidents of Excellence Universities
Leading International Cooperation in Engineering Education
On June 15, the 2026 China–Europe Dialogue of Presidents of Excellence Universities opened at the Polytechnic University of Turin.China's Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng and Italy's Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin delivered video addresses. Nearly 30 high-level Chinese and European universities attended the Dialogue, including the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology(Germany), the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain), the University of Turin(Italy),the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon (Portugal), Harbin Institute of Technology, Tongji University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Huai Jinpeng noted that President Xi Jinping attaches great importance on engineering education. The Chinese government has consistently supported the coordinated development of engineering scientific and technological innovation and engineering education. It establishes a talent training mechanism through industry-education integration, optimizes the engineering education ecosystem driven by industrial demands, and advances the reform of evaluation mechanisms oriented toward value contribution. He hopes that universities in China and Europe will jointly deepen innovative development to boost the quality of global engineering education, embrace the intelligent era to advance the transformation and development of engineering education empowered by digital technologies, and consolidate cooperation networks to build an open, collaborative and win-win innovation ecosystem for engineering education.
During the dialogue, Kong Jie presented NPU's institutional characteristics and signature achievements, with a particular focus on the innovative mechanisms for talent mobility and joint cultivation. He elaborated on NPU's international cooperation philosophy of "going global, attracting talent, and promoting student mobility." Citing the Queen Mary University of London Engineering School as a model, he demonstrated the solid outcomes of Sino-foreign collaborative education. Through the "Soaring Across the Globe" program, NPU has achieved leapfrog growth in both the scale and quality of undergraduate international exchanges.the China–Europe Spring School fosters mutual learning and innovation among young talents through courses in technology and the humanities, while the China–Europe Youth Dialogue on Civilizations has brought together hundreds of young participants from more than 30 universities to engage in in-depth dialogues on a wide range of topics. Kong Jie noted that these initiatives have not only facilitated the exchange and flow of international talents, but have also forged a new path for cross-border joint cultivation with distinctive NPU characteristics, significantly enhancing the University's agenda-shaping influence in China–Europe engineering education cooperation and contributing NPU's strength to the global reform of engineering education.
Signing the Memorandum with the ITCILO
Building a Global Hub for Talent in Global Governance
During his visit to Turin,, Kong Jie visited ITCILO and held talks with Director Christopher Perrin. The two sides reached strategic consensus on youth leadership development, internships with international organizations, and talent referral, and officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation. Kong Jie stated that NPU is willing to integrate this cooperation into the talent exchange framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, contributing to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Perrin spoke highly of the foundation for bilateral cooperation and expressed the expectation to establish a model of partnership between Chinese universities and UN specialized agencies.
Deepening Engagement with EU Universities
Expanding the Scope of China–Europe Educational Cooperation
The delegation held a series of meetings with the Polytechnic University of Turin and the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon (Portugal) on issues including Sino-foreign cooperative education, dual-degree programs, and international talent recruitment. The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in interdisciplinary studies, credit transfer, and faculty exchanges, and to renew the bilateral agreements between the institutions.
This visit represents a key initiative in advancing NPU’s global strategy. During the visit, NPU continued to deepen strategic dialogues with leading European technological universities, firmly strengthening the bonds of academic cooperation. Substantive consensus was reached in multiple areas, including Sino-foreign cooperative education, joint laboratory development, and the expansion of credit transfer mechanisms, further consolidating and deepening NPU's cooperation with Europe and injecting sustained new momentum into China–Europe engineering education collaboration.
Representatives from the Office of International Cooperation and the School of Integrated Circuits and Microelectronics, among other units, joined the delegation for the visit.
(Text : Chen Siwei; Photos : Chen Siwei and Gabriella Di Muro; First Reviewer:Yang Jie; Second Reviewer: Chen Siwei; Third Reviewer: Chen Jun; Translators: Li Yiwen, Mei Leyun)
