Fifth Graduation Ceremony for Postgraduate Students

On November 21, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen held the Fifth Graduation Ceremony for Postgraduate Students, symbolizing the embarkation of 486 graduate students on a new journey into a promising future. The ceremony was graced by the presence of President Yangsheng Xu, university leaders, professors, as well as friends and relatives of the graduates. To meet the requirements of epidemic control, the ceremony was held in an open air with a live webcast provided for people who were not able to attend. 

All stood up and sang the national anthem at the ceremony.

Remarks by President Yangsheng Xu
“Openness, innovation and down-to-earthness”

President Xu encourages graduates to be open, innovative and down-to-earth

In his remarks, President Yansheng Xu revealed the inspiration and the spirit of learning behind the dramatic changes in Shenzhen over the past forty years and the tremendous momentum brought about by reform and opening up.

“First and foremost, Shenzhen upholds an open and inclusive attitude. Reform and opening up has served as an enormous driving force, energizing the city and its people, breaking barriers, and giving rise to innumerable miracles of development. With merely 40 years’ history, Shenzhen has become Asia’s fifth largest city. It is the very openness, inclusiveness, and trail-blazing spirit that keeps attracting talents from all sectors of the globe to come and settle.

Second, Shenzhen owes its success to its vision for the future and its tremendous creativity. That Shenzhen has no long-established history and culture to set limits to its possibilities enables people here to try things untried and do things undone. As a result, this young city takes the lead in many areas, daily breaking new grounds in policies, commerce, culture and science.

Third, Shenzhen is established upon the very spirit of down-to-earthness. People here are keen for innovation, practical in action, and moderate in singing one’s own praises. It is built upon the hard work and dedication of its citizens out of literally nothing. That’s why we call this city home to trailblazers, entrepreneurs, and men and women of action. This down-to-earth spirit has shaped Shenzhen’s past, determined its present, and will continue to empower its future.”

Following the speech, President Xu presented certificates to the outstanding graduates, who were encouraged to uphold the Shenzhen spirit, and seize the opportunities that are being created in the city as the engine of the Greater Bay Area and the country’s first pioneering demonstration zone for socialism with Chinese characteristics.
 

        Outstanding Graduate Awards

President Xu presenting the Outstanding Graduate Awards to 10 outstanding graduates: Taojie Zhou (Ph.D. Programme in Computer and Information Engineering), Yu Ding (Master of Arts in Simultaneous Interpreting); Xiangyi Wang (Master of Arts in Translation & Interpreting Studies); Junsong Lu (Master of Science in Applied Psychology); Xu Yan (Master of Science in Data Science); Yunfei Li (Master of Science in Financial Engineering); Shuping Kang (Master of Science in Accounting); Bowen Li (Master of Science in Economics); Wenquan Li (Master of Science in Finance); and Jinping Li (Executive Master of Science in Supply Chain and Logistics Management).

Remarks by Prof. Mingkang Liu 
Former Chairman, China Banking Regulatory Commission

“Embracing the spirit of ‘through learning and temperance to virtue’ and becoming a considerably positive force for China” 
 

Remarks by Prof. Mingkang Liu

In his speech, Professor Mingkang Liu, former Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and Director of the Shenzhen Finance Institute (SFI) reviewed the extraordinary year of 2020. He said: “On the geopolitical front, the noisy US election finally settled down, but the uncertainty in the China-US relationship remains a top concern for officials, entrepreneurs and scientists. That said, we should be noted, that each cloud has a silver lining. China’s economic recovery has been stronger than expected, becoming the only one with growth among G20 countries. And this was achieved against the backdrop of the tariff-driven trade tensions with the US for nearly 30 months and the economic contraction resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.” 

Professor Liu then analyzed the current development of Shenzhen and commented, "Shenzhen isn’t great because of miles of land. It’s great because people open their doors widely to people whether they know or they don’t; Shenzhen isn’t great because of a few industry geniuses. It’s great because thousands who work down-to-earth and never follow the ballyhoo; Shenzhen isn’t great because of the title of SEZ or PDA (pilot demonstration area). It’s great because its people think deeply, fight bravely and behave decently by global standards.” He also encouraged students to embrace the spirit of “through learning and temperance to virtue” and become a considerably positive force for China with the following standards:

        Do be open and honest
        Do be humane and compassionate.
        Do be generous in serving the mankind, always try to be a little kinder.
        Don’t shock people with surprise. Market fears this most: sudden surprise.
        Don’t expect any rewards. Just follow your heart and do the right thing.
        Stay focused on the most important things: good health, personal growth, and healthy social impact. This is a true need of our society.

President Xu (right) presenting a commemorative plaque to Professor Mingkang Liu 

Remarks by Professor Benzhong Tang
Academician, Chinese Academy of Sciences

“Paradigm Shift for a New Landscape”
 

 

President Xu (left) presenting a commemorative plaque to Professor Tang (right).

 

Fifth Cohort Postgraduate Students with Extraordinary Outcomes

A Full Harvest, and a Bright Future

     

The fifth cohort of postgraduate students of CUHK-Shenzhen represents a total of 486 students in various programmes, ranging from Accounting, Economics, Finance, Data Science, Computer & Information Engineering (including four inaugural doctoral graduates.), Translation & Interpreting Studies, Simultaneous Interpreting, Applied Psychology, Financial Engineering, to Supply Chain and Logistics Management (EMSc-SCLM). 

Many of these outstanding graduates have made excellent academic achievements during their studies, such as participating in academic competitions and NSF projects, obtaining research results, and publishing papers in national and international journals and conferences. Among them, students from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences have won awards in several national interpreting competitions and English speech competitions; students from the Data Science programme have won prizes in the international AI-Trans Global Intelligent Network Transmission Competition.

This year's graduates are mainly employed in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as well as in Beijing, Shanghai and other first-tier cities. Most of them have secured positions in well-known multinational corporations, banks, securities companies, accounting firms, SOEs, research institutes, as well as communications, media and major Internet companies. Popular employers include Shenzhen High-Tech Investment Group(HTI), Guosen Securities, Ping An Securities, HSBC, China Merchants Bank, China Asset Management, WeBank, Huawei, Alibaba, Amazon, JD, Accenture and so on. Part of the graduates have been admitted to master's or doctoral programmes at renowned universities across the globe, including Yale University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Texas at Austin, University of Queensland, Singapore Management University, Higher School of Economics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and others.