"I see tremendous opportunities in China," chief of Sheffield University says

Source: Xinhua| 2019-09-29 14:36:37|Editor: huaxia
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A freight train carrying containers with goods from China arrives at DB Cargo's London Eurohub rail freight depot in Barking, east London, Britain, Jan. 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

"I see a society with a strong sense of purpose and being able to develop on priorities very quickly," Koen Lamberts said, noting that the ability to mobilize resources efficiently is one of the main reasons behind China's "remarkable achievement."

LONDON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- China has made "huge progress" in the past 70 years and the momentum of the country's development remains strong with "tremendous opportunities," said the chief of a leading university in Britain.

"The country has developed tremendously. I think the people of China should be very proud of that achievement," Koen Lamberts, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, told Xinhua in an interview ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which falls on Oct. 1.

In the eyes of the chief academic and executive officer of the renowned university, the strong momentum of development in China will continue in the next decades along with "tremendous opportunities," especially in such fields as digital technology and sustainability.

"There are opportunities in digital technologies that actually allow that revolution in productivity and contribute to development," said Lamberts.

The professor said China has gained increasingly strong capability in scientific research, which will continue to contribute to building an innovative economy.

Meanwhile, China has been "very active" in the field of sustainability, making great efforts to switch to sustainable energies, said Lamberts.

"There are tremendous opportunities there because that will be what our world needs to solve. It's one of the problems we face. And so China must be, because of its scale, a key contributor to that as well," he added.

Lamberts has visited China for more than a dozen times in the past seven years. China is the first foreign country he visited as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield after taking office in November.

Lamberts said the pace of change and the capacity to deliver have impressed him the most during his visits to China.

"I see a society with a strong sense of purpose and being able to develop on priorities very quickly," he said, noting that the ability to mobilize resources efficiently is one of the main reasons behind China's "remarkable achievement."

On China-Britain cooperation, Lamberts said he is optimistic that exchanges between the two countries, especially in the field of education, will be strengthened despite uncertainties caused by Brexit.

The University of Sheffield, one of the leading universities of the Russell Group, received its Royal Charter in 1905 and has since established itself as one of the largest and top-rated research universities in Britain.

"In a sector like ours, if we were to lose the connections with China, if we were to lose our research connections to Chinese investors, or if Chinese students stopped coming here, that would be unusually damaging," he said.

"So I think there is such a strong will for that to continue, and I'm very optimistic that the links will only improve and spread afar," he added.

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