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Dear faculty and staff, students, alumni, and friends:
As the pink blossoms of the floss silk tree fade away and the trees store their vitality in sturdy branches, the journey of 2025 quietly reaches its end. Looking back on the year we walked hand in hand, the visions outlined in our blueprint have now turned into solid footprints of SCNUers chasing their dreams.
This journey has been etched with the footprints of faith.
We have ensured the Party’s leadership runs through the entire process and all aspects of university governance, with the University Party Committee playing a powerful role in steering the direction and safeguarding the overall interests. Two new provincial-level model colleges and 18 provincial-level exemplary Party branches have been added, demonstrating the fruitful outcomes of the "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" initiative through exemplary leadership.
We have thoroughly studied and earnestly implemented the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), aligning ourselves with the national and provincial strategies of building a strong education system. The overall development plan of the university has clarified the direction, and the "15th Five-Year Plan" development framework of "1+3+11+39" has been steadily advanced.
We have continuously sent a clear signal of "full and strict governance over the Party", and the education campaign on thoroughly implementing the Party’s eight-point frugality code has been carried out in depth, bringing a fresh look to the work style of the entire university.
This journey has been marked by new heights of advancement.
We have focused on cutting-edge academic research and concentrated efforts on tackling key scientific challenges. Our Nature Index ranking has climbed to 141st globally, the number of disciplines ranked in the top 1% of ESI has increased to 15, and 2 disciplines have entered the top 100 of the U.S. News World University Rankings by Subject. We have achieved a breakthrough in jointly building a national key laboratory, set a new record in the total funding of projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, led the province in the number of annual key projects of the National Social Science Found of China, and achieved remarkable results by winning 13 Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Awards.
Our talent pool is brimming with vitality. We have added 20 new national-level talents, reaching a record high in recent years, including 1 new academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and another national Huang Danian style teacher team in universities, making the talent engine driving the university’s development more powerful.
We have connected with the world through the "Two Districts and Three Regions". We have been approved to establish our second education institution of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools—RSB Digital Business Institute. We have jointly built a laboratory with the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e, established the Macao International Education Innovation Hub, and been accredited as the only research center for Chinese-foreign (mainland, Hong Kong and Macao) cooperative education in the province. As the only university in the Greater Bay Area selected into the Global Teacher Development College, our path of open education is widening day by day.
This journey has been permeated with the fragrance of peaches and plums.
We have lit the beacon of cultivating talents with moral integrity. For the first time, the "Two Districts and Three Regions" were mentioned in the "First Class of Ideological and Political Education". The "Five Virtues in One" ideological and political education system won the first prize of the Provincial Teaching Achievement Award, and the University Youth League Committee was honored with the title of "National May Fourth Red Flag Youth League Committee".
We have cultivated fertile ground for the growth of students by establishing the country’s first "National Excellence Academy", being selected as a pilot university for the optimization and reform of disciplines and majors by the Ministry of Education, and ranking among the top three normal universities in the country in the number of the third batch of national first-class under graduate courses.
Our students have shone brightly and won numerous awards in competitions such as the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition, the National Normal University Students’ Teaching Skills Competition, and the National College Students’ Liberal Arts Innovation and Practice Competition, with the undergraduate further study rate rising steadily.
This journey has been measured by the steps of responsibility.
We have thoroughly explored paths to serve the educational integration of the Greater Bay Area. Forty years of running schools in Macao have yielded fruitful results. The dual bases for teacher training and exchange in Hong Kong and Macao have trained nearly 4,000 teachers from Hong Kong and Macao, writing the vivid practice of "One Country, Two Systems" into the history of SCNU’s development.
We have taken concrete actions in the "High-quality Development Project for Counties, Towns and Villages" in Guangdong and the "Double Hundred Action", driving the University Alliance for Rural Public Services to work in synergy. Our poverty alleviation projects have benefited thousands of households in Xinyi and Fengkai. Primary and secondary schools co-founded and co-built by the university have provided a total of 11,600 high-quality school places. We have strived to promote the integrated and coordinated development of "kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and universities", gathering the joint efforts for the development of basic education in the Greater Bay Area and the eastern, western and northern regions of Guangdong in a "connecting pearls into a chain" manner.
We have meticulously supported the 15th National Games and the National Paralympic and Special Olympic Games. 756 "Little Dolphin" volunteers have dedicated themselves wholeheartedly, creating an "SCNU Model" of volunteer service.
This journey has been echoed with the warmth of care.
We have made every effort to build a warm campus home. The No. 1 Faculty Apartment at the Guangzhou campus, the Engineering Building and student dormitories on Foshan campus, and the Library and Laboratory Building at the Shanwei campus have been put into use one after another. Liru Building has been capped as scheduled, and the new student dormitory project on the Guangzhou campus has taken the lead in obtaining approval in the province. The three-year campus renovation plan has been put into practice, bringing a brand-new look to the campus.
We have refined management services to improve quality and efficiency. The comprehensive property management reform has been fully implemented, achieving remarkable results in cost reduction and efficiency improvement. The "Teacher and Student Service Center" has been upgraded, with more than 300 service processes committed to being completed within a time limit. The "Beautiful SCNU" photo-sharing platform has been launched, enabling instant responses to campus public environment issues. The upgrading of access control systems, replacement of air conditioners, and renovation of campus spaces—these tangible practical measures have translated into a genuine sense of belonging and happiness among teachers and students.
We have strengthened the alumni network. We have welcomed the renewal of the University Council, with alumni from all over the world returning despite the distance. We have extended the "Alumni Home" to Hong Kong, Macao and overseas, bringing the hearts of all SCNUers closer together.
On the journey of 2025, whether on the long road of cultivating talents with moral integrity, at the curve of disciplinary upgrading, on the summit of scientific research challenges, or at the pass of institutional reform, the figures of SCNUers forging ahead can be seen everywhere. Every step we have taken has been steadily advanced with the sincere care of leaders at all levels and the heartfelt support of alumni and all sectors of society; every footprint we have left has been firmly planted with the sweat of more than 50,000 faculty, staff and students walking side by side! On behalf of the university, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of you!
As time flies, a brand-new journey unfolds under our feet.
The year 2026 is the Year of the Horse on the Chinese lunar calendar, marking the start of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, with the arduous task of "striving for first-class status" lying ahead. We must not only prioritize the urgent task of enhancing connotative development and overcoming the difficulties of reform and innovation, but also face up to the risks of competition and challenges, and shoulder the heavy responsibility of serving the development of a strong education system at the national and provincial levels. The journey ahead is long and arduous—only by keeping moving forward and working together can we overcome all obstacles.
On the new journey, we should demonstrate the courage and drive of "riding forward with whip in hand". Following the "1+1234" university development strategy, focusing on the core vision of "building a world-class comprehensive and innovative university with distinctive teacher education features", we will take the "Double First-Class" disciplines as the leader, empower the development with multidisciplinary collaboration, and strive to achieve leapfrog development in the race to build a strong education system.
On the new journey, we should embrace the courage and initiative of "taking the lead like a trailblazing steed". We will expand the open education layout of the "Two Districts and Three Regions", improve the university-college governance mechanism led by disciplines and the university operation guarantee mechanism centered on public welfare, improve the three systems of governing the university according to law, establishing the university through academic excellence, and invigorating the university through culture, and implement the four measures of "addition, subtraction, multiplication and division", so as to blaze a new path of high-quality development with the spirit of pioneers.
On the new journey, we should uphold the confidence and strength of "thousands of horses galloping forward". We will unite the tremendous synergy of teachers and students working with one heart, alumni moving in the same direction, and society walking in the same pace, so that the hard work of every SCNUer will converge into a mighty current driving the university’s development, and jointly lay a solid foundation for building a world-class normal university.
Those who strive will always succeed; those who forge ahead will always reach their destination. In 2026, may we continue to work together with one heart and one mind. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will seize every minute with the spirit of perseverance, open up new prospects with pragmatic actions, accelerate the development of a world-class teacher training university with comprehensive strength among the top in the country, and make new and greater contributions to the development of Guangdong and the Greater Bay Area, the development of a strong country, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Wish our motherland prosperity and strength, and our people peace and happiness!
Wish SCNU carry forward its glorious legacy and write new chapters of glory day by day!
Wish all SCNUers and friends from all walks of life a happy New Year, happiness and good health!
South China Normal University
Secretary of the CPC SCNU Committee Wang Hengyin, SCNU President Yang Zhongmin
December 31, 2025
Source from SCNU News Center
Translated by Tang Ying
Proofread by Edwin Baak
Edited by Li Jianru
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