On March 29, 2021, H.E. Ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni and the delegation of the Embassy of Switzerland in China and the Consulate General of Switzerland in Guangzhou paid a visit to SUSTech and Risks-X.

Photo by：Xiaoyan ZHANG

In the office of Risks-X, the distinguished guests were warmly received by our faculties including Prof. Xiaofei Chen, Member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chair Professor, Dean of Risks-X and Head of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences (hereafter referred as “ESS”); Prof. Junguo Liu, Member of the Academia Europaea, Chair Professor, Head of School of Environmental Science and Engineering; Prof. Shuxun Wang, Chair Professor, Head of Department of Finance; and Prof. Ke Wu, Research Assistant Professor, Assistant to Dean, Risks-X. They gave an introduction on Risks-X and its achievements in research applications, in terms of natural hazards, climate change and water resources, financial risk monitoring, etc. Prof. Arnaud Mignan, Associate Professor of Risks-X and ESS, Prof. Peng Han and Prof. Kejie Chen, Assistant Professor of Risks-X and ESS, Prof. Sandro Lera, Assistant Professor of Risks-X and Department of Information Systems and Management Engineering, and Prof. Moris Strub, Assistant Professor of Department of Information Systems and Management Engineering were also present in the meeting.

Photo by：Xiaoyan ZHANG

Afterwards, President Qikun Xue, Member of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Chunmiao Zheng, Vice Provost, Global Strategies, gave a cordial reception to the Ambassador and the delegation. In particular, President Xue extended his warmest welcome to the distinguished guests, introduced SUSTech and shared his cemented friendship with Swiss friends. 

Photo by：Xiaoyan ZHANG

During the meeting, Prof. Ke Wu gave a briefing about the progress achieved by Risks-X and its future plans.

Ambassador Regazzoni highly appraised the achievements made by SUSTech over the past decade, and appreciated the achievements of Risks-X. He noted that he was delighted to know that Risks-X was the first university-level collaborative research institute between ETH Zurich and a university in Chinese mainland, which was of great significance as a concrete project to put into practice the Sino-Swiss Innovative Strategic Partnership. Since it was founded, Risks-X has achieved excellent results in academic research and application platforms, and has actively cooperated with governmental agencies, enterprises and Swiss organizations in China. All of these efforts are of practical importance in the eyes of Ambassador Regazzoni. He also expressed his full supports to Risks-X in further upgrading to the Sino-Swiss International Innovative Institute of Risks in Shenzhen.

President Xue expressed sincere gratitude to Ambassador Regazzoni for his support to SUSTech and Risks-X, and instructed Risks-X to continue to use its strengths, consolidate and expand what it has achieved, and further contribute to Sino-Swiss cooperation and risk studies.

Prof. Zheng introduced SUSTech’s cooperation with Swiss universities and expressed the intention to strengthen cooperation on student exchanges and research collaboration.

Prof. Xiaofei Chen sincerely appreciated the full supports given by the Ambassador and President Xue, and promised Risks-X would continue its efforts to strive forward and make more achievements.

Prof. Junguo Liu shared his study and work experience in Switzerland, and showed the latest results obtained in sustainable development and water ecology under his collaboration with Swiss research teams. 

The Ambassador also visited SUSTech’s Exhibition of Development and Achievement, along with the delegates including Mr. Martin Bienz, Consul General of Switzerland in Guangzhou, Dr. Didier Vuarnoz, Head of Science, Technology & Education Section, Embassy of Switzerland in China, Mr. Yves Reymond, Counsellor, Head of Economic, Financial & Commercial Section, Embassy of Switzerland in China, and Mr. Gerd Chen, Economic Officer, Consulate General of Switzerland in Guangzhou, while Mr. Hua Gu, Global Partnerships Manager and Ms. Xin Xia, Global Partnerships Specialist of SUSTech Global attended the visit.