Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued the Circular of the General Office of the Ministry of Science and Technology on Recommending Advanced Groups and Individuals in Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic in the National Science and Technology System (Guo Ke Ban Jiang [2021] No.23). According to the Circular, 163 groups and 314 individuals are awarded. Tsinghua University Latin America Center is awarded by the honorable title of “Advanced Group in Combating COVID-19 Pandemic in National Science and Technology System.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsinghua University Latin America Center put the people of Chile and Latin America first and took initiative to contact many university departments and hospitals for anti-pandemic work, including Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital (BTCH), Vanke School of Public Health, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and Office of Lifelong Education Administration. Many cooperative partners of the center, such as Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), and China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care, also actively participated and supported the anti-pandemic work.
Tsinghua University Latin America Center and its partners launched scientific researches on two major topics of Experience sharing on medical care & public policies toward Covid-19, andeconomic recovery and trade promotion between China and Chile under the new normal of controlling Covid-19. They held many international seminars on combating COVID-19 pandemic, when topics such asChina’s prevention and control measures at the beginning of the pandemic,COVID-19 diagnosis,intensive care, and quick testing were discussed.
In addition,Tsinghua University Latin America Center supported and promoted exchanges and cooperation in online education in Chinese and Chilean universities during the pandemic. It helped produce the Spanish language version of COVID-19 Self-Assessmentsystem independently developed by Tsinghua University, and introduced it to the center and cooperative partners in Chile.
Also, Tsinghua University Latin America Center spent great efforts in donating anti-pandemic supplies to China and Chile. With the supportive and coordinative efforts by Tsinghua University Office of International Affairs and Tsinghua University Education Foundation, some Chilean enterprises successfully transported their donation to China; supported by the leadership of School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, the teachers and students of China-Chile exchange project donated supplies to Chile. With the unremitted work of the center, Chinese and Chilean people were able to help and support each other during the pandemic, enhancing their friendship.
Tsinghua University Latin America Center actively contributed to the anti-pandemic efforts in both Chile and the whole Latin America, sincerely conveyed Chinese people’s friendship to people there. In practical ways, the center has carried out the initiative to enhance the people-to-people bond, which is in line with President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. Also, it has won Tsinghua University the trust and respect from its local partners in Latin America.
Being awarded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Tsinghua University Latin America Center would like to give the credit to the guidance of the university leadership and the Office of International Affairs, the support from the Research & Development Affairs Office and the Tsinghua University Education Foundation, and the cooperation with all of the center’s partners and cooperative departments in the university. Tsinghua University Latin America Center is willing to further the cooperation with its partners and sister departments for shared development, committed to researching major common issues for China and the Latin America, and promote the partnership between China and the Latin America.
