Welcome speech from the Executive President at the 2011 opening ceremony

Dear students, parents, President Tao, all the teachers, guests and colleagues:

Welcome to the 2011 opening ceremony of Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU)!

Firstly, I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to all our new students. After 10 years’ hard work, you have passed the challenging Gaokao exams and finally arrived in the mysterious world of higher education.

At the same time, I would also like to commend all of you for making such a wise choice in choosing XJTLU. After fierce competition, you have successfully secured a place at XJTLU, which continues to attract greater attention from teachers, students and parents and is increasingly recognised in the world.

Also, I would like to invite all staff and students at XJTLU to enthusiastically and passionately welcome all of our new students as the latest members of the XJTLU family!

I believe that both new students and their parents attending this opening ceremony have given great concern and support to our university and that, along with our teachers and staff, who have made preparations for the arrival of new students, should feel excited and happy on such an occasion. At the same time, many of you possibly feel a little confused, worried and uneasy. I hope this brief introduction will go some way to reassuring you that you have all made the right choice in choosing XJTLU.

XJTLU was born in a profound and innovative period and has been established with the core idea of “Happy life and successful career”. At XJTLU, our objective is to help students become global citizens with international vision and competitive abilities. However, really achieving these ideas and objectives relies on improving a wide range of abilities and developing a profound understanding of life. In response to global development trends and demands, XJTLU has drawn on the essence of both Eastern and Western culture and management wisdom. Through this approach, XJTLU practices a unique “five-star” education model, and increasingly strengthens the education system through “guiding student development through a learning-centred approach”. Upon graduation, you will be awarded both a Chinese and UK degree, but this is only the by-product of your study.  XJTLU’s use of the international environment and global integration of education resources will deliver many benefits that will last a lifetime, fully enhancing your capacity for lifelong learning; helping you to integrate and apply knowledge to solve problems, and promoting innovation, cooperation and the capacity to implement solutions. Moreover, through interaction among teachers, classmates, the university and society, students are expected to become global citizens with a truly global perspective.

You may already be aware of these concepts from reading our homepage or other media reports, or you may have heard about them for the first time today and are perhaps a little confused about their true meaning.  I sincerely hope that we can set off together from today, and, through an understanding of the context and concepts, try to comprehend XJTLU more deeply, integrate it, utilise it, and really understand its educational philosophy. I also hope you will adopt an active learning approach to your university education, grow healthily, improve yourselves and realise our common education and growth dreams.

For our new XJTLU students, this will be the first time you have lived away from your parents and family in an unfamiliar place. Different kinds of pressures from study and life will be a serious challenge to you. However, how to face, accept and win this challenge will be a very significant topic in this stage or even the next coming stage of your lives. I hope you are not scared or nervous, but instead feel excited and eager about the opportunity to deal with new challenges alone. You should meet the challenge, utilise it to strengthen your mind, improve your abilities and thrive. Of course, the XJTLU tutor system, the excellent student support system, and all the living and teaching facilities will help you overcome these challenges as an independent and resourceful adult.

Everyone has a dream, especially young people of your age. Most of you might hope you could be a self-sufficient person and one day make your dream come true. Perhaps, XJTLU could not be the decisive factor for your dream coming true. But, I sincerely hope that our joint effort could make XJTLU become a place that holds your dream, a cradle that improves your ability, and a strong supporter that you can depend on for a lifetime. XJTLU is as young as you. Let us work hard together, add wings to our dreams by our ability and wisdom, and open a new chapter in the development of our life and career!

Where there is a dream, there is a place in XJTLU for you to present yourself. Everybody, it's show time!