China Focus: 130 years on, China's first modern university remains a steadfast contributor to innovation, social progress

TIANJIN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Tianjin University, China's first modern university, marked the eve of its 130th founding anniversary on Wednesday with a dazzling drone show, where 2,000 synchronized units formed luminous symbols in the night sky over the campus.

With a history spanning three centuries, Tianjin University has witnessed China's journey from poverty and weakness to prosperity and modernization. Today, the university in the northern port city of Tianjin continues to push the frontiers of science while contributing to technological innovation and social progress.

At an ultra-clean lab bench, researchers were seen carefully using pipettes to assemble gene fragments. These researchers at the university's School of Synthetic Biology and Biomanufacturing -- its youngest school, founded in April -- have made a significant breakthrough in the field of synthetic biology.

The findings on the precise synthesis and assembly of large-scale human DNA, along with successful interspecies transfer, were published in the international journal Nature Methods in July.

"This method opens new avenues for treating genetic disorders, as well as applications in agriculture, energy and environmental conservation," said Yuan Yingjin, the lead researcher and a professor at the university. "We have been tackling tough challenges and delivering outcomes in this 'uninhabited area'," Yuan added, noting that innovation is Tianjin University's defining hallmark.

After the defeat in the first Sino-Japanese War initiated by Japan, China established Peiyang University, the predecessor of Tianjin University, on Oct. 2, 1895. The university was the first in China to fully adopt the Western university system, serving as a microcosm of the country's pursuit of national rejuvenation.

Over the past 130 years, the university has pioneered numerous innovations, from establishing China's first hydraulic engineering laboratory to developing its first color film and designing its first road-rail dual-purpose bridge.

Despite having gone through a series of hardships, including being plundered by Japanese invading forces during World War II, it has nurtured over 400,000 students and continues to lead in frontier engineering fields.

Tianjin University is not only a part of China's innovation landscape, but also brimming with business vitality.

Riding the wave of the country's commercial space boom, Li Fenghui, who founded Yunyao Aerospace in 2019 while being a doctoral student at Tianjin University, was determined to establish a global meteorological satellite constellation.

The company has launched 47 satellites, which produce more than 50,000 atmospheric profiles daily. The data generated has been incorporated into the China Meteorological Administration's system and is used in weather forecasting, navigation, aviation and other fields.

"Tianjin University has a well-developed innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, cutting-edge technology disciplines and dedicated funding support," said Li. He received over 10 million yuan (about 1.4 million U.S. dollars) in angel investment from the university's alumni.

The university has institutionalized support mechanisms for business start-ups. Its science and technology park now accommodates 110 resident enterprises, nine of which have secured equity investments totaling more than 160 million yuan.

Among tens of thousands of research institutions worldwide, the university has 15 disciplines ranking among the global top 1 percent, five in the top 0.1 percent, and its engineering and chemistry ranking among the top 0.01 percent, based on citation frequency of published papers in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database.

Tianjin University is also advancing the internationalization of its education programs.

It has partnerships with more than 260 global universities, research institutes and companies, and has educated more than 40,000 international students from over 150 countries and regions.

Wendy Larner, president and vice-chancellor of Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, said Tianjin University has demonstrated significant leadership in innovation over its 130-year history and is positioned to continue as a global leader.

"It is one of the institutions that universities worldwide look to as a benchmark for innovation and engineering education," Larner said.

Chai Liyuan, president of Tianjin University, said the university has served as both a pathfinder in China's higher education system and a builder and leader in the nation's reform and modernization. He added that it will continue to advance toward becoming a world-class university with Chinese characteristics. ■