On the morning of May 20, the League of Tropical Universities (LTU) kicked off its 2026 summit at the Hainan University (HNU) Arena.
The LTU 2026 Summit Opens at HNU Arena on May 20.
The opening ceremony was attended by Liu Xiaoming, Governor of Hainan Province; Vice Governor Xie Jing; Luo Qingming, Vice Chairman of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the CPPCC and President of HNU; Chen Guoqiang, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of Hainan Medical University; and Cai Qiang, Secretary-General of the Hainan Provincial Government. Also present were Zhang Jin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education; Liu Jin, former Deputy Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Education and Vice President of the International University Sports Federation; Wang Peng, Deputy Secretary-General of Hainan Provincial Government; Dai Zhen, Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province; Li Dongyu, Director-General of the Hainan Provincial Department of Ocean Affairs; Ding Hui, Director-General of the Hainan Provincial Department of Education; Xu Zhenling, Party Secretary and Vice Chairman of the Hainan Association for Science and Technology; Wang Jiabao, Deputy Director-General of the Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; and Xu Jiang, Deputy Director-General of the Hainan Provincial Department of Science and Technology. Vice Mayors Li Yi of Haikou, Yin Chengling of Sanya, and Wang Lingrong of Danzhou also attended, along with Nie Qingbin, President of Hainan Normal University; Cao Bing, President of the Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences; and Li Jihua, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences.
The summit brought together more than 200 representatives from government agencies, international organizations, universities, and research institutions across 30 countries and regions. Distinguished guests included Delphine Edith Emmanuel Adouki, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technological Innovation of the Republic of the Congo; Anwar Hafid, Governor of Central Sulawesi Province of Indonesia; Som Rattana, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia; Ahmad Parveez, Director-General of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board; Paul Maluku, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of the Congo in China; Kenneth Kamwi Matengu, President of the Association of African Universities and Vice Chancellor of the University of Namibia.
Governor Liu Xiaoming extended a warm welcome and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to friends from all sectors who have long supported the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) and helped advance global exchanges and cooperation among tropical regions. He noted that the launch of island wide independent customs operations has created a unique pilot platform for tropical universities to pursue greater openness, innovation and alignment with international rules. He expressed the hope that the summit would facilitate in depth academic exchanges, spark new ideas, strengthen bonds among young people, and promote deeper collaboration among tropical universities — from building a new digital education ecosystem and driving innovation led development to enhancing cooperation that deepens mutual learning among civilizations — thereby contributing the strength of tropical regions to building a community with a shared future for humanity. He emphasized Hainan’s commitment to providing the best services and most open environment to fully support academic exchanges and research collaboration.
Governor Liu Xiaoming addresses the opening ceremony.
President Luo Qingming noted that HNU has leveraged the advantages of the FTP to steadily enhance its academic strengths and key performance indicators, laying a solid foundation for serving national strategies and promoting global cooperation among tropical regions. He emphasized that the question of “Education in the Age of Intelligence” is a shared challenge facing the world. Together with LTU members, HNU will embrace this new stage of smart education, set new benchmarks for educational development, and open fresh pathways for digital learning. It will contribute to global educational transformation, the revitalization of countries in the Global South, the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, and the development of the Hainan FTP, as well as to building a community with a shared future for humanity.
HNU President Luo Qingming addresses the opening ceremony.
National Assembly Speaker of Djibouti Dileita Mohamed Dileita, Minister Adouki, Governor Anwar Hafid, Undersecretary of State Som Rattana, FAO Assistant Director-General Thanawat Tiensin, Director of UNESCO’s East Asia Regional Office Shahbaz Khan, and President Matengu delivered remarks either in person or online.
Speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita of Djibouti’s National Assembly addresses the opening ceremony.
Delphine Edith Emmanuel Adouki, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technological Innovation of the Republic of the Congo, addresses the opening ceremony.
Anwar Hafid, Governor of Central Sulawesi Province of Indonesia, addresses the opening ceremony.
Som Rattana, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia, addresses the opening ceremony.
FAO Assistant Director-General Thanawat Tiensin addresses the opening ceremony.
Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO’s East Asia Regional Office, addresses the opening ceremony.
Kenneth Kamwi Matengu, President of the Association of African Universities and Vice Chancellor of the University of Namibia, addresses the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony featured a series of events, including the official launch of the TropiLearn Platform, a book donation ceremony for the multilingual editions of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, the unveiling of overseas “Science and Technology Backyards”, and the presentation of appointment letters to liaison ambassadors of HNU’s International Student Alumni Association. It also marked the launch of LTU-Hainan Youth Cultural Exchange Program and the “Experience China” Program. In addition, the LTU Development Report (2026) and the LTU Technology Transfer Projects (Volume II) were officially released during the event.
The TropiLearn Platform is launched at the opening ceremony.
The book donation ceremony for the multilingual editions of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, is held at the opening ceremony.
The overseas “Science and Technology Backyards” are unveiled at the opening ceremony.
Appointment letters are presented to the liaison ambassadors of HNU’s International Student Alumni Association at the opening ceremony.
The LTU-Hainan Youth Cultural Exchange Program and the “Experience China” Program are launched at the opening ceremony.
The LTU Development Report (2026) and the LTU Technology Transfer Projects (Volume II) are released at the opening ceremony.
Strategic cooperation agreements were signed during the ceremony. On behalf of the LTU, President Luo Qingming signed agreements with the Association of West Africa Universities, Asian Institute of Sustainable Development, Entrepreneurship & Diplomacy, and Ghana’s National Centre for Distance and Open Learning. On behalf of HNU, he also signed agreements with Universitas Tadulako (Indonesia), NIIT (Shanghai), Namibia University of Science and Technology, and the University of Ilorin (Nigeria).
President Luo Qingming signs cooperation agreements with the Association of West Africa Universities, Asian Institute of Sustainable Development, Entrepreneurship & Diplomacy, and Ghana’s National Centre for Distance and Open Learning.
President Luo Qingming signs agreements with Universitas Tadulako (Indonesia), NIIT (Shanghai), Namibia University of Science and Technology, and the University of Ilorin (Nigeria).
The ceremony also featured the handover of the LTU rotating chairmanship, with President Luo Qingming passing the LTU flag to the new chairman, Mohamed Firouz Asnan, President of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS of Malaysia.
President Luo Qingming hands over the LTU flag to the new chairman, Mohamed Firouz Asnan, President of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS of Malaysia.
Established in November 2023 by HNU in collaboration with seven leading universities and research institutions across the tropics, the LTU has since grown into a vibrant network of 121 member institutions spanning 50 countries and regions, forming a multilateral cooperation platform with a strong emphasis on Global South engagement. The 2026 summit, themed “Intelligent Connectivity, Shared Future: The Mission and Innovation of Universities in the Digital Age”, seeks to address global development challenges with the insights and solutions from the tropical regions.
Translated by Kuang Xiaowen
