Dr. Yu Zhigang, president of Ocean University of China (OUC), welcomed a French delegation led by Mr. François Cuillandre, Mayor of Brest City, on May 12, 2015 at Laoshan campus.

In his speech, President Yu said that, Qingdao and Brest are both coastal cities, which have established close ties. In 2006, sistership was officially established between the two cities when OUC launched a close partnership with Brest City and the University of Western Brittany (UBO).

President Yu said China is currently building itself into a strong ocean country, and it is of great significance to protect the ocean before its resources are developed and utilized to benefit human beings.

IFREMER, or the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, and UBO boast rich experience in transferring marine technology into the driving force for economic growth and social development. The “Innovation & Blue Growth” Symposium was jointly hosted by the Qingdao municipal government and the city of Brest in 2013 at OUC, President Yu said.

“The current visit to OUC by representatives from the business and education sectors in Brest will increase cooperative relationships and expand our collaborative areas,” added President Yu.

Mr. François Cuillandre said he was elated by the cooperative relations between Brest City and Qingdao as well as OUC. “Although we are in two distant lands,” he said, “we enjoy a very close partnership. Cooperation in education and research are the top priorities in the collaboration between our two sides.” He added that he was looking forward to new achievements in bilateral cooperation in ocean engineering and renewable energy.

“We have a large number of students from China in our city, and we will encourage more French students to come over to China to study at Chinese universities including OUC,” Mayor Guillandre continued.

Representatives from the Office for Blue Economic Development, the International Office, the School of Law and Political Science, the College of Marine Life Science, the College of Engineering, the College of Information Science and Engineering, the College of Foreign Languages, and the International Alliance of Marine-related Institutions (IAMRI) were also in attendance.

President Yu (R) presents an OUC souvenir to Mr.  François Cuillandre, mayor of Brest, France

Translated by Allison Zhang
Proofread by Shane Velez and William Zou