On the afternoon of June 10, a delegation led by Ahmet Yozgatlıgil, President of the Middle East Technical University (METU) of Türkiye, visited Beihang University. The delegation also included Safiye Güven, Third Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in China, and Serdar İbrahimoğlu, Deputy Director of the Administrative and Finance Department of the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO).

Zhao Changlu, Secretary of the CPC Beihang University Committee, met with the guests at the Library on Shahe Campus, joined by Vice President Zhao Weisheng and representatives from the International Relations Department and the School of Astronautics.

Zhao Changlu extended a warm welcome to the delegation and highlighted the strong alignment between the two institutions. He noted that METU, as a premier technical university in Türkiye, excels in engineering, electronics, and mechanics, which align closely with Beihang's core disciplines. He highlighted that 2026 marks the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Türkiye, expressing hope that both universities would seize this opportunity to deepen mutual trust, expand high-level international cooperation in science and education, co-establish joint laboratories, and explore multilateral collaboration mechanisms to bring the partnership to a new stage.

Ahmet Yozgatlıgil expressed his gratitude for Beihang's hospitality and praised the university's outstanding achievements in aerospace and engineering. He noted that the frequent exchanges between the two universities this year have led to broad consensus on cooperation in aerospace and related fields. He called for deeper collaboration in talent cultivation, faculty exchange, and scientific research, leveraging cutting-edge research platforms to tackle frontier technological challenges and set a benchmark for Sino-Turkish collaboration in science and education.

During the visit, the two universities signed a university-level Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), a student exchange agreement, and an agreement to establish the Innovation Center for Commercial Space Technology and Applications. An inauguration ceremony was also held to mark the official launch of the new innovation center.

The METU delegation also toured several key laboratories on campus, including the National Key Laboratory for Intelligent Transportation Integrated with Vehicles and Roads, the State Key Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence for Materials Science, and the Large-Scale Low Turbulence Aeroacoustic Wind Tunnel Laboratory.

Founded in 1956 and located in Ankara, METU is one of Türkiye's leading research universities. According to the QS World University Rankings 2026, METU ranks 269th globally, with strengths in electronics, mechanical engineering, computer science, and social sciences.

Editor: Lyu Xingyun