December 1st witnessed the 40th Anniversary of Hubei University of Automotive Technology (HUAT) and the foundation of the Alumni Association. The playground was full of colorful flags and guests from around the world.
Founded in 1972, HUAT was then named Workers’ College of Dongfeng Automobile Manufacturing Plant. In June 1983, it was approved by the State Council to be a university qualified to grant undergraduate degrees. At that time, HUAT was under dual leadership of Hubei Provincial Government and Automotive Industry Corporation of China with the latter one as the major party. In 1994, the management was transferred to the Ministry of Machinery Industry.
In 1998, the State Council and Hubei Provincial Government reached an agreement that HUAT would be under dual leadership of both central and local governments with Hubei Provincial Government as the major party, but its human resources, finance, assets were still under the management of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. In 2001, with the approval of the State Council, the funds of the university would be shared by three parties: the Ministry of Finance of the State, Provincial Finance Department and DF Company.
In December 2006, Hubei Provincial Government signed an agreement with DF Company to transfer the management of HUAT to the provincial government. Characterized by automotive features, HUAT is the sole university named by automotives in China.
In order to celebrate its 40th anniversary, many institutes sent letters of congratulations, including MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) , Hubei Provincial Government, Hubei Provincial Department of Education, Shiyan Municipal Government, Shiyan Municipal Committee, DFM, Wuhan University, Jilin University, Ulm University of Applied Sciences, etc. Mr. Chen Qingtai, chairman of China Association for Public Companies, former general manager of DFM and member of the tenth and eleventh CPPCC Standing Committee; Mr. Ma Yue, vice president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, former general manager and party secretary of DFM; Mr. Zhou Ji, party secretary of Shiyan City; Mr. Zhu Fushou, general manager of DFM send their inscriptions to celebrate this big event.
Wang Chao, Chair of the University Council and party secretary of HUAT, delivered a speech at the conference. He briefly reviewed the 40 years history of HUAT since its foundation and then summarized the school's educational achievements and characteristics. In the end, he drew the blueprint of HUAT for the next decade. “We must follow the trend of higher education and implement the spirit of The Eighteenth National Congress of the CPC. Under the guidance of “scientific development”, we should promote the comprehensive development of the school.” he said. He also pointed out that at the present time and in the future, this college will implement the "8 +1" plan, that is, consolidating its foundation, promoting its reputation, gathering talents, improving social service capabilities, optimizing resource, innovating management system, developing “Harmonious HUAT” and fully develop affiliated college, etc. He said that the development of higher education should be focused on inner quality promotion with its unique features. In 2022, that is the 50th anniversary of HUAT, the college will develop to be a technical university, renowned home and abroad, with distinctive characteristics of engineering education and comparative advantages.
Mr. Zhu Fushou pointed out that although HUAT was transferred to the provincial government, the concern and support from DFM remained as usual and will not decrease in the future. He hoped that HUAT could grasp the development trend of the automotive industry, form its own characteristics, make it to be a model of integrating production, teaching and research, and cultivate more talents for automotive industry and DFM based on its own conditions.
Mr. Zhou Ji said “Ever since its foundation, HUAT serves for the development of DFM and Shiyan Auto City all the time and it has made great contributions to the national automobile industry and the economic and social development of Shiyan city. Currently, the Eighteenth National Congress of the CPC pointed out the right direction of building a prosperous society. I hoped that HUAT constantly improve its educational level, enhance the capacity of research and innovation, and make new and greater contributions to development of Shiyan as a base for international commercial vehicles and a central city in adjacent areas involving Hubei, Henan, Shanxi and Chongqing. The city government will continue to provide financial and policy support to its development.”
