Anchoring University-City Integration to Empower Industrial Upgrading
Tsinghua (Qingdao) Academy of Arts and Science Innovation Research (TASA) gathers the collaborative force of university-city integration, empowering industries to embark on a new journey. On January 25, 2026, the Tsinghua University Qingdao Alumni Association’s Annual Meeting and the “University-City Integration · Industrial Empowerment—Forum on How Universities Boost Industrial Upgrading in the West Coast New Area” were successfully held at TASA. This event was hosted by the Tsinghua University Qingdao Alumni Association and co-organized by TASA and Shandong Wenxiyue Operation Management Co., Ltd. It brought together experts from Tsinghua University, Tsinghua alumni entrepreneurs, representatives from various chambers of commerce and associations, as well as relevant local government leaders to explore new pathways for university-city integration and discuss new measures for industrial upgrading in the West Coast New Area. This also marked another important practice by TASA in establishing its presence in Qingdao’s West Coast New Area, deepening university-local cooperation, and serving the high-quality development of regional industries.
The event was attended by distinguished guests, including: LIU Xuehong, Executive Deputy Chief Commander of the Development and Construction Headquarters of Qingdao Lingshan Bay Film and Television Culture Industry Area; SUN Xiaohui, Deputy Chief Commander of the Development and Construction Headquarters of Qingdao Lingshan Bay Film and Television Culture Industry Area; WANG Jiansong, Executive Vice President of TASA; LYU Bin, General Manager of Shandong Minsheng Group Cloud Computing Co., Ltd.; LENG Yantao, Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of China Construction Investment Urban Investment (Shandong) Energy Co., Ltd.; GAI Guosheng, Professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Tsinghua University and Deputy Director of the Central Social Service Advisory Committee of the Jiusan Society; LI Mu, Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University (AADTHU), and Director of the Aesthetic Education Experimental Center of TASA; TU Shan, Associate Researcher and Associate Professor at AADTHU and Director of the Waterfront Environment Innovation Lab at TASA; ZHANG Mingtao, President of the Village Super League Research Institute in Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province; and ZHU Hai, Vice President and Secretary-General of the Tsinghua University Qingdao Alumni Association, among others. Also present at the event were representatives from various bureaus invited by the Development and Construction Headquarters of Qingdao Lingshan Bay Film and Television Culture Industry Area, representatives from some universities and research institutions in Qingdao, business leaders, and representatives from college/university alumni associations. This event aimed to break down the collaborative barriers between university innovation resources, enterprise industrial resources, and local development needs, promote deep integration between university-city as well as synergistic industrial upgrading, and gather multi-party synergy for the high-quality development of the West Coast New Area in Qingdao.
TASA Speech by LIU Xuehong, Executive Deputy Chief Commander of the Development and Construction Headquarters of Qingdao Lingshan Bay Film and Television Culture Industry Area
According to the on-site speech by LIU Xuehong, Executive Deputy Chief Commander of the Development and Construction Headquarters of Qingdao Lingshan Bay Film and Television Culture Industry Area, the West Coast New Area is currently focusing on the “5+5+7” key industrial system and fully advancing the high-end, intelligent, and green transformation of the manufacturing sector. The innovative strength of universities serves as a crucial support for the industrial upgrading of the West Coast New Area. Since its establishment, TASA has taken root in the fertile soil of the West Coast New Area in Qingdao. Focusing on the cross-disciplinary integration of arts and science, it has been deeply committed to industry-university-research collaborative innovation, talent attraction and cultivation, and platform development. It has helped build a solid bridge for us, facilitating resource sharing and mutual benefit. The forum served a crucial bridge for the West Coast New Area to connect with the high-quality resources of Tsinghua University and mobilize the strength of alumni enterprises and chambers of commerce. We look forward to taking it as an opportunity to deepen all-round cooperation with TASA, as well as with various alumni enterprises and chambers of commerce, which can help gather innovative momentum to empower the iterative development of the West Coast New Area’s industries.
Speech by WANG Jiansong, Executive Vice President of TASA
According to WANG Jiansong, Executive Vice President of TASA, TASA has achieved fruitful results in promoting university-city integration, the transformation of scientific research outcomes, and industrial collaborative innovation. In his speech, Professor WANG Jiansong unveiled a collaborative innovation platform spearheaded by TASA. This platform can help establish a four-dimensional linkage mechanism connecting “universities, alumni, enterprises, and chambers of commerce,” aiming to break through the docking barriers between university innovation resources and local industrial needs and provide precise technical support, professional talent reserves and efficient cooperation and docking services for the industrial development of the West Coast New Area. This is the core measure for TASA to promote the in-depth development of university-city integration.
Speech by ZHU Hai, Vice President and Secretary-General of Tsinghua University Qingdao Alumni Association
In his speech, ZHU Hai, Vice President and Secretary-General of Tsinghua University Qingdao Alumni Association, TASA, expressed his gratitude for TASA’s support in establishing a communication platform and providing strong support to the alumni association. He hoped that the forum would promote the deep integration of resources from universities, business associations, and industrial demands, and inject new momentum into the development of the West Coast New Area.
As a highlight of this forum, during the cooperation signing ceremony, TASA served as the primary signing entity, leading the way in reaching three significant cooperation agreements. Such concrete actions demonstrated TASA’s pivotal role in resource integration and industrial empowerment. Among them, a contract was officially signed with Shandong Minsheng Group for the Tsinghua Qingdao Minsheng Computing Power Research Center project. Coordinated by TASA, the project will integrate resources from universities and enterprises, focusing on building an innovative platform in the field of AI computing power to inject core momentum into the digital economy industry upgrade of the West Coast New Area. TASA also signed strategic cooperation agreements with various business associations in Qingdao, establishing a regular resource docking mechanism to promote precise matching between enterprise resources from chambers of commerce and university research capabilities and achieving efficient connection between industry demands and technological supply. Furthermore, TASA reached a cooperation agreement with Rongjiang County in Guizhou, taking the lead in establishing the Rural Revitalization/Cultural Tourism Research Workshop for Village Super League in Rongjiang County. It also collaborated with local cultural tourism resources in Qingdao to launch joint initiatives, enable cross-regional empowerment of the cultural tourism industry and rural revitalization, thereby further expanding the impact scope of university-city integration.
The signing of the contract between Shandong Minsheng Group and TASA
The signing of strategic cooperation agreements between TASA and various chambers of commerce and associations in Qingdao
The establishment of the Rural Revitalization/Cultural Tourism Research Workshop for Village Super League in Rongjiang County
During the keynote speech session, several university experts and industry entrepreneurs delivered insightful presentations tailored to the industrial development needs of the West Coast New Area, drawing on their respective research fields and practical experience. Among them, LI Mu, Director of the Aesthetic Education Experimental Center of TASA and Professor at AADTHU; LYU Bin, General Manager of Shandong Minsheng Group Cloud Computing Co., Ltd.; and TU Shan, Director of the Waterfront Environment Innovation Lab of TASA and an associate researcher at AADTHU, respectively proposed targeted cooperation pathways for upgrading key industries in the West Coast New Area. Their discussions covered dimensions such as the integrated development of aesthetic education, breakthroughs and innovations in domestic cruise ship design, innovative practices in waterfront environments, and AI computing power industry empowerment, supported by research outcomes and industrial practices from relevant laboratories at TASA.
Keynote speech by LI Mu, Director of the Aesthetic Education Experimental Center of TASA and Professor at AADTHU
Keynote speech by LYU Bin, General Manager of Shandong Minsheng Group Cloud Computing Co., Ltd.
Keynote speech by TU Shan, Director of the Waterfront Environment Innovation Lab of TASA and an associate researcher at AADTHU
This forum featured two core interactive dialogue sessions, serving as an important platform for fostering consensus on development and igniting collaborative ideas. The first dialogue, titled “University-City Integration and Industrial Collaboration,” was presided over by ZHANG Mingtao, Dean of the Village Super League Research Institute in Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province. Alumni experts of Tsinghua University, including LIU Yanhui, WEI Sanmin, GAI Guosheng, and HU Zhiyu, gathered to conduct in-depth discussions on the pain points and breakthrough paths for university-local collaboration in areas such as energy conservation and environmental protection, intelligent equipment, rural revitalization through cultural tourism, and technology management, proposing numerous practical and feasible cooperation suggestions.
Guest dialogue on “University-City Integration and Industrial Collaboration”
The second dialogue was presided over by GUO Junying, Deputy Secretary-General of the Tsinghua University Qingdao Alumni Association, focusing on “Alumni Enterprises + Chamber of Commerce Collaboration: How to Build a Platform for Connecting University-City Industrial Resources.” Representatives from the chamber of commerce enterprises, including HE Zongbin, GAO Yanchen, QIAO Zhenghai, and XU Chuanyong, shared their opinions and detailed the resource advantages in their respective fields and specific visions for empowering industrial development on the West Coast New Area. This session reached a broad consensus on establishing a precise, efficient, and regular platform for matching university-city industrial resources, laying a solid foundation for deepening future cooperation among all parties.
Dialogue on “Alumni Enterprises + Chamber of Commerce Collaboration: How to Build a Platform for Connecting University-City Industrial Resources”
At the end of the event, a precious cultural gift was presented—SU Li, President of the Qingdao Alumni Association of Jilin Normal University and Professor at the College of Communication, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, specially contributed a piece of calligraphy, bringing auspicious blessings for the Year of the Horse.
Calligraphy works graciously donated by SU Li, President of the Qingdao Alumni Association of Jilin Normal University and Professor at the College of Communication, Qingdao University of Science and Technology
As a significant barrier for university-local cooperation deployed by Tsinghua University in the Qingdao West Coast New Area, and under the care and guidance of the Development and Construction Headquarters of Qingdao Lingshan Bay Film and Television Culture Industry Area, TASA is based on the core needs of high-quality industrial development in the West Coast New Area. It fully leverages the comprehensive disciplinary strengths of Tsinghua University, with art-science integration as its core development principle and university-local cooperation as a key link. It continues to coordinate innovation resources from universities, connects with industrial development forces, and builds collaborative innovation platforms, aiming to inject a continuous stream of Tsinghua wisdom and innovative momentum into the industrial upgrading of the West Coast New Area. The success of this Tsinghua University Qingdao Alumni Association’s Annual Meeting and the Forum on How Universities Boost Industrial Upgrading in the West Coast New Area is a vivid practice of TASA’s deep cultivation in university-city integration and its support for regional industrial development.
Looking ahead, TASA will take this event as an opportunity to further enhance the operational efficiency of its collaborative innovation platforms, continuously expand the breadth and depth of university-local, university-enterprise, and university-chamber of commerce cooperation, and keep improving resource matching mechanisms. It will also promote the implementation and transformation of more high-quality research outcomes in the West Coast New Area, help deepen and solidify university-city integrated development, and contribute greater art-science power to the creation of a modern industrial system and the achievement of high-quality development in the Qingdao West Coast New Area.
