Date: August 17, 2026

Translator: Zhou Ying

Text / Photos: Luo Shiqi, Ye Shuqi

A delegation from the University of Zaragoza, Spain, visited Hubei University of Automotive Technology (HUAT) on the morning of August 17. Delegates Antonio Alonso and Ti Xu took part in a symposium held in Room 311 of the Industry–Education Integration Building.

On behalf of the university, Zhu Zhanwei extended a warm welcome to the visiting delegation. He noted that HUAT, a higher education institution renowned for its distinctive automotive disciplines and coordinated multi-disciplinary growth, has consistently prioritized international education and actively pursued practical cooperation with high-caliber overseas universities. He also pointed out that Zaragoza is home to one of Spain’s three core automotive industry clusters, and the University of Zaragoza enjoys outstanding strengths in engineering technology, new energy and related fields. Given the broad scope and immense potential for collaboration between the two institutions, he expressed hope that this visit would further deepen mutual understanding, foster consensus, and deliver tangible results in student and faculty exchanges as well as academic collaboration.

Fang Peng gave a comprehensive introduction to HUAT’s history, disciplinary features, faculty, talent training and international cooperation. He outlined the progress of its signature automotive discipline cluster and the university’s three-phase development strategy, voicing anticipation of deeper collaboration with the University of Zaragoza in relevant areas.

Ti Xu presented an overview of Zaragoza, Spain, together with the history, disciplinary strengths and internationalization strategy of the University of Zaragoza. She remarked that the university highly values partnerships with Chinese institutions, and spoke highly of HUAT’s standout expertise in new energy vehicles. She hoped the two sides could set up a regular exchange mechanism and push forward the delivery of concrete cooperation projects.

The parties then engaged in thorough discussions covering student exchanges, faculty mobility, joint training and joint research. Zheng Dongli from the School of Automotive Engineering and Zhou Wanghuai from the School of New Energy briefed the visitors on disciplinary progress and research priorities at their respective schools. They also exchanged ideas on overseas study opportunities for students, the development of research platforms, and university–enterprise–government cooperation. Antonio Alonso expressed readiness to advance closer ties linking the university, Chinese automotive firms, and Western enterprises and academic institutions, so as to jointly support the global expansion of the automotive industry.

As part of the visit, the delegation toured the Science and Technology Innovation Exhibition and Exchange Center. This visit has laid a solid foundation for deeper cooperation between the two universities. Both sides agreed to build on this exchange, keep in close contact, turn letters of intent into actionable projects at an early date, and open a new chapter of friendly collaboration.