Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid announced today that the University has entered a five-year cooperative agreement with Tongji University in Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

The two institutions agreed to promote mutually beneficial activities in the areas of education and research, and cooperate and work together toward the internationalization of higher education. Such programs may include, but are not limited to:

1. Exchange of faculty members
2. Exchange of students
3. Joint research projects
4. Joint conferences
5. Joint cultural programs

The agreement comes as the result of a two-week trip to China by President Reid and Dean Chin Kuo of the College of Engineering to explore new opportunities to promote academic, social and economic development in the United States and China. Six universities were visited: Tongji University and Fudan University in Shanghai; Zhejiang University in Hangzhou; and Tsinghua University, Peking University and the Beijing Institute of Technology I Beijing.

A similar agreement was signed between Wayne State and Fudan University this past February on campus here, according to President Reid. Other agreements may be signed in the future pending identification of specific programs having mutual interests, he said.

"Out of six universities visited, five of them are top 10 universities in China, and one is ranked in the top 25," Reid said. "Peking University is considered the Harvard of China, while Tsinghua University is the MIT of China. Zhejiang University is the largest in the nation with its recent merging with four other independent universities/colleges. Beijing Institute of Technology is one of the two universities that have top programs in automotive engineering. Wayne State expects to enjoy a close relationship with these elite institutions in China as WSU continues its Carnegie Research I University status and enters the global era of the 21st century," Reid said.

"Although opportunities were sought out for as many disciplines as possible, engineering appears to be very attractive to Chinese universities since the College of Engineering already has activities in progress or in planning stages with them," Reid noted. "Several faculty research collaborations are under way. A number of Chinese graduate students and visiting scholars are on campus. There also are engineering faculty members who are of Chinese origin and some of them have given or will give lectures at these Chinese universities. The programs of interest include Biomedical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Materials and Sensors, Infrastructural Engineering and Engineering Management."

In addition to the accomplishments mentioned above, the visits have made headway for developing new programs and greatly increasing Wayne State's visibility in the global academic community. President Reid and Dean Kuo gave lectures on "Universities Play Crucial Role in Promoting International Trade" and "Ideal Engineer Profile for the 21st Century" respectively. Both of them visited many key national research laboratories. There are approximately 150 such centers designated by the Chinese central government in the country.