On January 14-15, Thomas Maurer, Director of École Centrale de Lille, and Mathieu Thomas de la Pintière, Director of International Relations Development at École Centrale de Lille, paid a visit to Beihang University. President Wang Yunpeng met with the guests at the Ruxin Conference Center. Vice President Zhao Weisheng, along with representatives from the International Relations Department and the Sino-French Engineer School, attended the meeting.

Wang Yunpeng extended a warm welcome to the delegation. He reviewed the cooperation history between Beihang University and the Groupe des Écoles Centrales, and introduced the significant achievements made by Beihang in recent years in talent cultivation and scientific research collaboration. He noted that the Groupe des Écoles Centrales is one of Beihang's most important and fruitful partners. Over the past two decades, the two sides have forged profound friendship and maintained close cooperation, establishing a stable mechanism for two-way student exchanges. Solid progress and outstanding results have been achieved in general engineering talent training, international scientific cooperation, and joint institutional initiatives.

Looking ahead, he expressed hope to further deepen cooperation with École Centrale de Lille, expand inter-university exchanges and visits, enhance high-level international talent cultivation, and promote academic exchanges among faculty, so as to yield even more fruitful outcomes in the new era.

Maurer expressed sincere gratitude for Beihang's warm reception. He stated that the fruitful cooperation between the two institutions would not have been achieved without long-term efforts and commitment from both sides, and this visit made him deeply impressed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of Beihang. He emphasized that in the new era, deepening exchanges and cooperation between universities is of great significance for enhancing the friendship between the two countries. Furthermore, he hoped that both sides would continue to focus on key fields and advance their collaboration to deeper levels and broader fields.

At the Sino-French Engineer School, the two sides held in-depth discussions on talent cultivation and research collaboration, reaching extensive consensus on further expanding cooperation. Later, the delegation held an exchange seminar with students from the Sino-French Engineer School.

During the visit, the delegation also visited the School of Physics and the School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, and toured the Center for Micro-Nano Innovation of Beihang (Beihang Nano) and Beijing Air and Space Museum.

École Centrale de Lille is one of France's oldest and most prestigious engineering schools. Affiliated to the Groupe des Écoles Centrales and a member of the T.I.M.E. Association (Top International Managers in Engineering), it houses seven major research laboratories covering key fields such as automation, electronic technology, and materials science. Renowned for high-level engineering education and research innovation, the institution enjoys an outstanding reputation in engineering education across France and Europe. It has made significant contributions to France's technological progress and economic development through the internationalization of engineering education, the transformation of scientific research achievements, and the cultivation of industry talent.

Editor: Liu Tingting