On October 17th, the University Presidents  Forum for BRICS  was held at Beijing Normal University and Vice President of HIT  Ren Nanqi  attended the Forum.

Yuan Rengui, the Minister of Education,  the Brazilian,  Russian, Indian and South African ambassadors to China, Ma  Zehua, Chinese  Chairman in Business Council of BRICS, and the congressman of  South Africa were  present at the opening ceremony of the Forum and delivered  speeches.       

During the Forum, the presidents had a  heated debate on  issues related to innovation, transformation, university  engagement, and  cooperation of universities among BRICS. At the BRICS  University Presidents  Roundtable, Ren Nanqi stressed that as the source of  intellectual training,  technological progress, and inheritance of civilization  in a nation,  universities should exchange ideas with each other, learn from  each other,  embrace the whole world, and display every university’s strengths  and  characteristics, especially in this cooperation and global information age.  HIT  will play an active role in the establishment and development of BRICS   University League and promote the cooperation and communication between   universities in the League. He also advised that mechanisms for regular science   and humanity communication based on the League should be established, which   include scholarships for the talented in BRICS, the competition of   entrepreneurship and innovation for youth, and academic exchanges between   researchers. After three rounds of roundtable meetings, the university   presidents of over 50 renowned universities from Brazil, Russia, India, South   Africa, and China signed the Beijing Consensus. According to the Consensus,   universities and research institutes from BRICS should strengthen trust and   understanding across the world, make tireless efforts to promote communication   between different civilizations, enhance solidarity and cooperation, vigorously   promote environmental protection, raise the level of student exchange programs,   and bridge the gap between young students from different countries. There will   be a platform for intellectual training and academic cooperation which is   conducive to scientific research and higher level education. Through joint   research, the BRICS will obtain more intellectual support to tackle   international affairs concerning the interests of BRICS and deal with economic   and political changes. The relationships between BRICS will be   closer.

During the Forum, Ren Nanqi also had a  meeting with the  ambassador of Russia to China Andrey Denisov and the president  of Ural Federal  University Koksharov successively and gave them each a Memorial  Album of the  Association of Sino-Russian Technical Universities During the War  on  anti-Fascism as a gift.