Hainan University held its 2025 Summer Work Conference from August 31 to September 1. Under the theme of navigating with vision, confidence and action, the conference defined HNU’s roadmap to become a world-class university that serves national strategic needs while embracing the global connectivity of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Hainan University holds its 2025 summer work conference from August 31 to September 1 (Photo by Zhu Mingshuo)

President Luo Qingming, a CAS academician, presented a work report reviewing the university’s progress over the past year and its overall performance in implementing the university’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).

As a university jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Hainan Province, the leading institution within Hainan’s “1+2+X” higher education framework, and Hainan’s only Double First-Class university, HNU is committed to fulfilling its role as an essential contributor to the Hainan FTP and a benchmark in the province’s higher education sector.

This pursuit of world-class status has galvanized the entire university community, including its alumni, creating a powerful, shared sense of mission.

President Luo Qingming presents a work report at the conference (Photo by Zhu Mingshuo)

In his concluding remarks, Li Hu, the newly appointed Chairman of the HNU Council, underscored the transformative impact of both national policy support and the university’s three major structural reforms: implementing a comprehensive credit system, adopting a residential college system, and establishing collaborative innovation centers.

He stressed the critical need to maintain momentum, noting that “our current stage is like sailing against stronger midstream currents, or climbing steeper halfway slopes”, and called for unified, pragmatic and innovative efforts in implementing the university’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030).

Li Hu, Chairman of the HNU Council, delivers concluding remarks at the conference (Photo by Zhang Yang)

The conference stressed the need for the entire university community to understand three key questions: why HNU must pursue world-class status, what defines a world-class institution, and how to achieve it.

Using internationally recognized benchmarks—including five criteria, eight characteristics, and two development pathways，the university outlined seven strategic priorities to advance reforms. The conference mobilized efforts to develop the university’s 15th Five-Year Plan and carry out 27 major tasks for the 2025 Fall Semester, with the goal of significantly enhancing the university’s overall strength by 2030.

During the conference, university leaders presented updates across functional domains. Relevant departments and units reported on the progress of the formulation of the university’s 15th Five-Year Plan. Additionally, the conference heard reports from representatives of Category-A projects under the First-Class Discipline Breakthrough Initiative, from administrative units, and from schools preparing to apply in 2026 for academic doctoral programs. All participants engaged in group discussions.

Li Hu, Chairman of the HNU Council, engages in group discussions (Photo by Zhu Mingshuo)

President Luo Qingming engages in group discussions at the conference (Photo by Zhang Yang)

Zhang Jiyou, Executive Vice Chairman of the HNU Council, engages in group discussions at the conference (Photo by Zhu Mingshuo)

The conference was chaired by Zhang Jiyou, Executive Vice Chairman of the HNU Council, and attended by university leadership, all mid-level administrators, nationally recognized scholars, as well as representatives from non-Communist parties, personages without party affiliation, faculty and students.

Translated by Li Chuanrui

Proofread by Jin Ying