A delegation led by Zhang Jun, secretary of the CPC Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) Committee, visited Spain and Italy from Sept 29 to Oct 4.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership between China and Spain, as well as the 20th anniversary of BIT's cooperation with Spanish universities. During their visit to Spain, Zhang visited the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), the Universidad de Barcelona, and IE University.

At the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Zhang and the university's president, Óscar García Suárez, renewed their inter-university cooperation memorandum. Both sides agreed to strengthen their educational and research collaboration in fields such as aerospace, new energy vehicles, and new materials, building on their 20 years of cooperation, and to jointly cultivate outstanding engineering talent. Zhang also met with students and alumni representatives who are participating in exchange programs at the university, encouraging them to cherish the opportunity for exchange and learning.

At the UPC, Zhang and the university's president, Francesc Torres, renewed their institutions’ cooperation memorandum. They reached several agreements on industry-academia-research collaboration, the establishment of joint laboratories, and the initiation of joint training programs for high-level experts in areas such as new energy vehicles, smart manufacturing, and artificial intelligence.

At the Universidad de Barcelona, Zhang and the university's vice president, Raul Ramos, renewed their inter-university cooperation memorandum. The two sides explored collaboration paths in areas such as materials, chemical engineering, management, law, diplomacy, design, and the arts. They agreed to further strengthen student exchanges and jointly tackle research projects.

In addition, during the visit to Italy, BIT's delegation visited Italy's Civil Aviation Authority and Sapienza Università di Roma.

At Italy's Civil Aviation Authority, Zhang held talks with Director Alexander D'Orsogna on topics such as unmanned aviation, the low-altitude economy, commercial spaceflight, and near space. Both parties agreed to build on their existing cooperation by coordinating with regulatory bodies of both countries and collaborating with top universities and research institutions in the aerospace sector. They plan to deepen their partnership through research collaboration, capacity building, and jointly organizing international conferences.

At Sapienza Università di Roma, Zhang met with Vice Rector Giuseppe Ciccarone. Both sides agreed to establish a comprehensive inter-university partnership building on their existing collaboration in the field of law, aiming to deepen research cooperation in key areas such as law, economics, diplomacy, and aerospace engineering. Additionally, multi-level exchanges between faculty and students and development of high-quality dual-degree programs will be promoted.

Since 1993, BIT has continuously expanded its collaboration with the higher education sector in Italy, establishing stable inter-university partnerships with 17 institutions in the European country.

This visit to Spain and Italy is a significant step for BIT in deepening its international cooperation in Europe. BIT will further expand and enhance collaboration in areas such as aerospace, new energy vehicles, management, law, and design.