On September 11, Rector Vilayat Valiyev of Azerbaijan Technical University (AzTU) visited SUES with his delegation. Vice President Xia Chunming hosted the meeting at Room 204 of the Administration Building. Representatives from the International Office, College of International Education, and Office of External Relations also attended the talks.
Xia Chunming extended a warm welcome to Rector Valiyev and his colleagues. He reviewed the great progress achieved since the two sides first connected in June this year. He highlighted that SUES, an application-oriented university known for integrating industry and education and dedicated to regional industrial development, placed great importance on exchanges with top institutions worldwide. He emphasized that AzTU was SUES’ first partner in Azerbaijan, making this agreement a milestone for cooperation. He expressed the hope that the two universities would deepen collaboration not only in student exchange programs but also in faculty visits and joint research to achieve mutual benefit.
Valiyev appreciated SUES for the warm reception. He noted that China and Azerbaijan share a long-standing friendship, and deepening educational ties between the two countries has become trend. He introduced AzTU’s history, which dates back to 1887, and its solid academic foundation in cultivating outstanding professionals for the nation’s industrial sector. He added that AzTU has been actively expanding partnerships with Chinese universities this year and is looking forward to building a close, pragmatic, and sustainable strategic partnership with SUES to jointly contribute to engineering talent training and technological advancement in both countries.
During the meeting, Xia Chunming and Rector Valiyev exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on behalf of their respective universities. The establishment of this partnership lays a strong foundation for future collaboration in faculty and student exchanges, research cooperation, and academic resource sharing.
This signing represents a major milestone for SUES in expanding educational cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. Both sides emphasized their intention to use this momentum to promptly implement the MoU framework and accelerate the launch of joint projects.