Qiu Xueqing, President of Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT), led a delegation to the Guangdong Hongyuan Basketball Club on 15 September for a dedicated research visit and cooperation exchange. Chen Haitao, Chairman of the Guangdong Hongyuan Group, Chen Haofeng, Chairman of the Guangdong Hongyuan Basketball Club, and other senior executives of the club extended a warm welcome to the delegation. The two sides jointly explored a new paradigm of integrating sports and education and of university-enterprise cooperation, and held in-depth discussions on joint talent cultivation, career pathways for basketball talent, co-hosted sporting events, research and innovation, resource sharing and research on sports culture, further building consensus on deepening cooperation. Officials and coaches from the University's School of Physical Education took part in the visit and exchange.
Anchoring his remarks in the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education in higher education and in the requirements of sports-education integration in the new era, President Qiu systematically set out the University's philosophy of educating students through sport and its approach to university-enterprise cooperation. He stressed that the University has long practised the philosophy that "everyone takes part in physical exercise, everyone enjoys sport, and everyone remains engaged with sport throughout life", and that it attaches great importance to the role of sport in talent cultivation. Sport, he noted, not only strengthens students' physical fitness and mental health but also cultivates the character strengths of teamwork, tenacity and perseverance, making it an important means of advancing the all-round development of students in moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labour education. The University and the Dongguan-based Hongyuan Club, he pointed out, share a deep historical bond and a solid foundation for cooperation, the two sides having been among the earliest partners in Guangdong Province to explore collaborative education between universities and enterprises under the framework of sports-education integration.
Mr Chen Haitao and Mr Chen Haofeng spoke highly of GDUT's achievements in educating students through sport. They stressed that, in light of the practical challenges now facing talent cultivation and athlete development in the sports industry, the two sides should draw on their respective platforms and resources, take stock of their experience in university-enterprise cooperation, and carry out research on dedicated topics in sports-education integration and on empowering local development through sporting events and sports culture, while also advancing joint faculty development, joint curriculum design and the co-building of high-level athletic teams.
At the meeting, the two sides formally established their intention to cooperate in the joint selection, joint cultivation and joint development of talent, and identified a series of concrete measures to open up a full-chain talent cultivation pathway linking campus basketball with professional basketball.
