Singaporean Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, visited Nanjing University on June 4 and was received by the university’s Chancellor Zhang Yibin on Xianlin campus.
Present at the meeting were Luo Dewei, Consul General of Singapore in Shanghai, Huang Xiqiang, deputy director of Jiangsu provincial foreign affairs office, and Pu Lijie, president assistant of the university.
Zhang extended his welcome to Minister Heng on behalf of Nanjing University, and while briefing the visitors on the university’s disciplinary buildup, scientific research, student education and social services, he emphasized that the university has had long, active and healthy exchange and cooperation with many universities and research institutions in Singapore.
He hoped that in the future, such exchange and cooperation should be further enhanced and serve as a bridge of cultural exchange between the two countries.
Heng Swee Keat hoped that cooperation between China and Singapore will continue to be strengthened and will make new contributions to the solution of global problems.
The two sides discussed such hot topics as AI development and eco-environment protection before they exchanged gifts.
Exchanging gifts (photo by She Zhijun)
After the meeting, Heng Swee Keat delivered to the university’s students and teachers his speech “Reflections on Singapore-China Relations, and Leadership and Governance.”
Presiding over the symposium was Zhu Feng, executive director of The Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies.
Singaporean Finance Minister Heng delivering a speech (photo by She Zhijun)
Minister Heng Swee Keat reviewed the development of Sino-Singaporean relation and said that since China’s implementation of the Reform and Opening up Policy, enormous changes have taken place and China has been playing a more and more important role on the international stage.
Recently, he points out, as the “Belt and Road” Initiative continuously broadens the areas of cooperation and generate new ways of cooperation, the relation between the two countries has been pushed to a new height. Currently, broad and in-depth cooperation is being carried out by the two countries in traffic and transportation, financial development and people’s wellbeing.
Aiming high for the future, Minister Heng emphasized three principles of national governance and public policies: first, keeping in pace with times and paying close attention to social demand; second, in policy making, taking into consideration depth, width, profundity and the involvement of citizens; and third, actively learning from and cooperating with other countries and maintaining a friendly relationship with others.
He hoped that different countries will be united by their shared values and create better and better lives for all peoples.
In the Q&A section, Heng discussed and exchanged views with NJU teachers and students present at the meeting on future cooperative plans between China and Singapore, the prospect of AI development in Singapore, the Singaporean experience of success in cultural, social and economic development.
Heng Swee Keat also visited NJU’s School of Artificial Intelligence.
The head of the school Li Ming introduced the latest research development and demonstrated the application systems based on new machine learning technologies such as ensemble learning, weak-supervised learning, and object-oriented learning for polysemy.
According to the briefings, this system plays an important role in polar expeditions, mobile intelligence, and media data analysis and has demonstrated the outstanding effects of new machine learning technologies in connecting and fusing information space and physical space, and ultimately assisting users in making decisions in the real world.
Wu Gangshan, CPC secretary of NJU’s Department of Computer Science and Technology, presented Heng as a giftMachine Learning, a book written by Zhou Zhihua, dean of the School of Artificial Intelligence.
Minister Heng visiting the lab (photo by She Zhijun)
