Nie Zuoren, President of BJUT and Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

(August 30, 2022)

Distinguished faculty and staff members,

Dear new students, ladies, and gentlemen

Good morning!

Today we are gathered here to celebrate the 2022 Opening Ceremony with our new students of Beijing University of Technology. All of you have held out the immense pressure of Gaokao, overcame the great trials of Covid, traversed physically from all corners of the country, and made it here, rejoicing in BJUT. So first of all, on behalf of all BJUT students, faculty and staff members, I would like to welcome the 7,168 of you, and congratulate everyone for being admitted into BJUT with merit, and I would also like to thank you and your family for trusting and choosing our university!

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing situation of Covid, some domestic and overseas freshmen aren't able to make it here physically today. For them, we've prepared a video streaming of today's ceremony. We wish you to continue your day-to-day Covid prevention routines, be steadfast in your determination to fight against the pandemic and make your way here safely to check in with us soon.

Looking back on the six decades of the BJUT's development, we've always stuck to the principles of nourishing the youth for the Party and cultivating talented students for the Country. For 62 years, with the tireless efforts of generations of BJUTers, the University had gradually developed into a key municipal multi-disciplinary institute, with an emphasis on Engineering, incorporating also Science, Economics, Management, Humanities, Law, Arts, and Education. In 1996, we became part of "Project 211", and in 2017, we were proudly included in the ranks of the National Double First-Class initiative's first-rate disciplines. With guidance and firm support from the municipal government, we are striving towards a high-level research-intensive university. In the QS World University Rankings, we ranked 32nd in domestic universities with 8 of our disciplines ascending into the Top 500. Meanwhile, 6 of our disciplines entered the Top 1% of ESI. Today, you've officially become part of BJUT, we hope you can work alongside us, blaze a trail ahead, and contribute to the efforts of making our centenary dream of building a world-class university with Chinese characteristics a reality.

Today, you are standing on a fresh starting point and about to write a brand-new page of your life. As your President and teacher, I have three expectations for you, which I hope you will always bear in mind.

First, have a heart for the country and the Party.

Although the times keep changing, young people in China have been committed to the same mission. 95 years ago, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the People's army fired the first shot against Nationalist reactionaries in Nanchang, Jiangxi province. Young patriots waived off their pens and jumped to join the army. They took their faith and action in the rise and fall of the nation and carried the hopes of all Chinese people, protecting and fighting for them. 95 years later, the Chinese government and its people's rock-solid determination of reunifying the country remains, and the People's Liberation Army displayed powerful combat strengths and abilities at the Eastern Theatre Command. Each year, there are always BJUT students answering to the call of duty and blowing the "assembly horn" to join the army and serve the country. Through the trials in army camps, they trained their hearts to be loyal and firm, and their bodies vigorous and forcible, becoming more proud, confident, and assured in their identity as Chinese people.

A faithful heart can carry you a long way, and a thoughtful mind can carry you through actions. Facing the unprecedented and magnificent historical course of this new era, all of you should follow the Party's leadership, and walk in the front of our time, running on the path of fully establishing a great modern socialist country, and achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. You need to work hard to achieve personal growth and live up to the entrusting expectation of the Party and the Chinese people. Be a true believer and practitioner of Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Synchronize your hearts with the Party. Spread your youthful seeds in the journey of our national rejuvenation.

Second, spend your efforts on our country and people.

Earlier this year, China successfully hosted the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, drawing wide attention both home and abroad. The participants have together created the Beijing Winter Olympic Spirit of bearing in mind the big picture, being confident and open, rising to challenges, pursuing excellence, and creating a better future together. At the Review and Awards Ceremony, General Secretary Xi said that "The volunteers offered warm services with their youthful vigor and dedication, showing the vibrant and energetic image of the Chinese youth to the world." This winter, 436 BJUT volunteers remarkably completed their missions in service of the two Games. Among them, one graduate of the Class of 2022 was honored to accept the commendation from the Party Central Committee on behalf of our university. This summer, as head of the 10th Graduates' Volunteer Teachers Group, he led other 10 volunteer students onward to Xinjiang province in landlocked western China to start one-year volunteer work. He truly fulfilled BJUT's youth motto of "Count me on for a strong nation" and dedicated a BJUTer's strength to the educational cause in the poverty-stricken western region. Where the country needs, there are BJUTers.

Aim for the highest and you can unlock your potential. But only with your feet on the ground can you realize your dreams. I hope that you can find your path to actualize your life's values in sedulous studies and persistent discoveries. I also encourage you to take the initiative, cleave through the waves and create miracles in pursuing a great struggle, a great project, a great cause, and a great dream. In this way, you run the best laps for youths of this generation on the youthful green track.

Third, enhance your abilities to help build a greater, more prosperous China.

Science and technology make a nation and country strong. As the world accelerates into its future, scientific and technological innovation has become the main battleground for international strategic games. The Chinese nation's rejuvenation also hits its critical period. After a long-term effort, China has come near or even reached world-class advancement in many fields, transforming itself from a "late-comer" to a "first-mover". We are capable of realizing a greater leap. Adhering to the idea of "Rooted in Beijing, Serving Beijing, Inspiring China and Embracing the world", BJUT is always committed to making its due contribution to the country's mega and major projects. Over the years, our fruits of scientific and technological innovation have kept springing up. This year, we published a paper in the prestigious journal Science as the primary author for the first time. We were the first among Chinese universities to establish a scientific and technological innovation platform for urban carbon neutrality. We overcame the bottleneck in the technology of the industrial robot RV decelerator and successfully applied the outcome to industrial production. We have also contributed to other important projects such as the National Stadium, Daxing Airport, Winter Olympics Stadiums, etc. Just recently, we signed strategic cooperation agreements with Beijing's district-level governments and state-owned companies. All of these illustrate the University's ambition to integrate further into and serve with greater deeds the development of the capital in the new era. We are also expanding a broader stage for all students to show their talents and realize their dreams.

As a Chinese saying goes, "With an unshakeable faith, we can take up a mountain to fill up a sea". I wish that in the following years, you will follow our motto "Persistent Striving, the Principle; Pursuit of Innovation, the Path", enhance your creative critical thinking ability and take on the baton to climb the ladder of strengthening the nation through science and technology. Surely, you will encounter difficulties and hardships. But I hope that you can dare to struggle and challenge the impossible, turning ideas into realities and accomplishing greatness through accumulated strength. I also wish that through your years in BJUT, you can make perfection more perfect by dotting the I's and crossing the T's and collect all of your strengths to pour your youthful wisdom into the country's scientific and technological self-reliance.

2022 marks an important step in China's marching towards its second centenary goal of building a great modern socialist country in all aspects. The Party is also about to convene the 20th National Congress of far-reaching significance. For generations of youths in this new era, the time could not be better for you to complete weighty tasks. "Youth means hope, and youth stands for the future." From today on, you will drive into your life expressway. While searching for your life's direction, you must learn from history but also understand the present. While advancing further and climbing higher, you must bolster your abilities to do real and practical work. I wish that you will leave behind the most memorable part of your youth at BJUT. Go to be the light to light up the sky. Go to be the star to shine through the night. Go to be the person of your truest self. And go to take on the journey to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!

Thank you all!