On January 19, the Ningbo Honorary Citizen and Camellia Award Presentation Ceremony was held. Shiyi Chen, President of the Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo was awarded the title of "Ningbo Honorary Citizen".
Mr. Tang Feifan, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Ningbo Municipal Committee and Mayor of Ningbo (left) presents the certificate to President Shiyi Chen (right).
The title of "Ningbo Honorary Citizen" represents the highest recognition granted by the city to individuals from home and abroad who have made outstanding contributions to Ningbo's development. As a representative of the honorees, President Shiyi Chen delivered a speech at the ceremony.
He expressed his gratitude to the Ningbo Municipal People's Government for the honor and trust bestowed upon him:"I was born in 1956 in Tiantai, Zhejiang, which was then part of the Ningbo Prefecture. Therefore, I have always considered myself a native of Ningbo—this land has long been etched into my life's DNA. I am deeply grateful to the CPC Ningbo Municipal Committee and the People's Government of Ningbo for conferring upon me the honor of‘Ningbo Honorary Citizen’, which gives me a profound sense of homecoming and identity after all these years."
Address by President Shiyi Chen as a representative of the honorary citizens.
President Shiyi Chen noted that his return from academia in the United States to dedicate himself to education in China—from Peking University to Southern University of Science and Technology, and now to the Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo—was driven both by personal sentiment and the call of the times. The city's character, encapsulated in its motto "A City of Culture and a Gateway to the World," along with the patriotic, entrepreneurial, pragmatic, and innovative spirit of Ningbo's business community, resonates deeply with his vision of "establishing a university of global influence."
Creating a world-class university in his hometown has been the dream of Mr. Renrong Yu, a prominent representative of Ningbo entrepreneurs in the new era who have contributed to education through philanthropic funding. Over the past five years, President Shiyi Chen said, he has been profoundly inspired by the city’s passionate commitment to education and its strong aspiration for high-level universities to lead future development.
As an institution rooted in Ningbo, the Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo is driving reform with courage, injecting new momentum into the city and fulfilling its mission to strengthen education. The institute will grow and thrive together with Ningbo, continuously exploring new pathways in talent cultivation and institutional innovation,and ultimately building a world-class university that reflects the city's stature.
