On the morning of April 12th 2016, a ceremony was held in the German Library, Siping Campus of Tongji University to unveil the plague of Graz University of Technology’s Liaison Office at Tongji University. Professor Yang Xianjin, party secretary of Tongji University, and Professor Harald Kainz, president of Graz University of Technology, attended the ceremony and delivered speeches. Present at the ceremony were leaders, professors and students from both universities and representatives from Consulate-General of Austria in Shanghai and from AVL, totaling about 80 people.

In their speeches, the two leaders reviewed the history of cooperation between both sides since 1998 and the achievements in Architecture and Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Automotive Engineering, and Rail Transit in the past two years. To further strengthen the partner relationship, the two universities decided to set up a liaison office of Graz University of Technology inside the Sino-German Building at Tongji University. Professor Xianjin Yang expressed his hope for the office to become a home for Graz University of Technology in China, on the one hand, and to provide more opportunities for students of Tongji to learn more about Graz University of Technology, on the other hand. He believed that the two universities will not only achieve more academically, but also understand more of each other culturally through enchanced communication and collaboration.

Mrs. Silvia Neureiter, Austria’s consul general in Shanghai, and Dr. Robert Fischer, executive vice-president of AVL, gave their speeches in the ceremony. Then, Mrs. Clara Fischer, director of the liaison office, addressed the audience, which led to the climax of the ceremony. Speeches by wo students from China and Austria who had taken part in exchange programs between the universities demonstrated the profound friendship between the two universities.

Following the ceremony where Professor Xianjin Yang and Professor Kainz jointly presented to Mrs. Fisher the key of the office symbolizing the partnership between the two universities, participants visited the newly-furnished liaison office.

Translated by May Language Studio based upon

http://news.tongji.edu.cn/classid-15-newsid-50820-t-show.html