On the afternoon of November 17^th, the signing ceremony of deep integration of university-local government was held between HNUST and Xiangtan Economic Development Zone (XEDZ) in the conference hall on the 5^th floor of Block A, Lide Building. The ceremony was attended by Tang Yayang, Secretary of the Party Committee of HNUST, Zhu Chuanqu, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee and President of HNUST, Hu Haijun, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Xiangtan Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Party Working Committee of XEDZ, and the committee members of HNUST. Members of the theoretical study group of the Party Working Committee of XEDZ, secretaries of all second-level Party organizations of HNUST, and members of the leading group office for the Party history learning and education campaign and directors of relevant departments of both sides were also present.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Tang Yayang warmly welcomed the delegation of XEDZ and sincerely appreciated its support for HNUST. He pointed out that the signing ceremony is a potent measure for strengthening complementary advantages of this pair of partners- HNUST and local government. Tang Yayang put forward three suggestions on the implementation of In-Depth Integrated Development Agreement. First, build a community with a shared future and common interests. Both sides should be committed to building the pattern of cooperation and development between HNUST and XEDZ following that between Stanford and Silicon Valley. Second, establish long-term mechanisms and a leading group for in-depth integrated development, and set a regular liaison agency with a list management mechanism. Third, strive for substantial results. Both sides should have deep connection and high-efficiency integration in scientific and technological innovation, basic education, Party building, comprehensive governance, and top talents cultivation.

According to Zhu Chuanqu, HNUST has established a close cooperative relationship with XEDZ in recent years and the agreement starts a new chapter to comprehensively deepening cooperation between university and local government. He hoped that both sides could develop integration of university-local government in a larger scope to wider areas and at deeper levels and strive for building a “HNUST+XEDZ” pattern similar to that of “Stanford +Silicon Valley”, which will contribute HNUST wisdom to constructing XEDZ as a pioneer for implementing Hunan three highlands and four new missions strategy (the development goal that President Xi proposed when inspecting in Hunan Province in September, 2021) and a demonstration pilot zone in high-quality development for Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan integration. In addition, both sides should work together to make new and greater contributions towards carrying out Hunan three highlands and four new missions strategy and building modern socialist new Hunan and Xiangtan.

As Hu Haijun said, inheriting culture and striving for innovation, HNUST is an institution of higher education with prosperous academic achievements and abundant talents. At present, under the principle of "aiming at first-class standard, and focusing on innovation, characteristic development and key breakthrough", HNUST is making every effort to build itself into a first-class and high-level comprehensive university in China with distinctive characteristics and international influence. At the same time, Jiuhua, the economic and technological development zone in Xiangtan, is also trying to develop itself as a leading "five good" park, to actively participate in the implementation of " Hunan three highlands and four new missions strategy " and the achievement of "six goals of Xiangtan city". He expressed the hope to further utilize the superior resources of both sides, explore the development model of "HNUST + XEDZ " according to the experience of "Stanford + Silicon Valley" version, and form a community with a shared future for HNUST and XEDZ. And XEDZ will also give full support to personnel training, scientific research and innovation, campus environment construction and other aspects of HNUST.

At the ceremony, on behalf of both sides respectively，Zhu Chuanqu and Hu Haijun signed the Framework Agreement on In-depth Integrated Development of HNUST and XEDZ. According to the agreement, based on the principle of "cooperation and common development", to "HNUST + XEDZ " version of the "Stanford + Silicon Valley" development model, the two sides will carry out deep cooperation in aspects of Party construction leadership , industrial development, scientific and technological innovation, cultural prosperity, social management, personnel training, employment, entrepreneurship and so on, promote the community with a shared future for both sides, build a new development model of "university +" in an all-round way, and create a new model of deep integration of university and local government.

(Translated by PAN Zhuo, QIN Sijin)