The Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges at the Ministry of Education of China announced on Dec 18 last year "Innovation Centers for China-US Youth Exchange" which, located at a number of universities and enterprises across the country, serve as platforms for innovation and entrepreneurship training and a bridge for scientific and cultural communication between global youths. Now, a year later, an event held on Dec 14 at SIP's Dushu Lake Science & Education Innovation Zone (DLSEIZ), where one of the Innovation Centers is located, offered a good chance for the Innovation Centers to showcase their achievements and exchange experience.

The event gathered officials from related Chinese and US government offices and over 100 representatives from the Innovation Centers and their partners home and abroad.

Xu Yongji, deputy head of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges at the Ministry of Education of China, and Jeffery Loree, deputy counselor for public affairs at the US Embassy in Beijing, gave high praise in their speeches to the Innovation Centers' contributions to China-US social and cultural communication.

Lin Xiaoming, deputy director of SIP Administrative Committee, spoke at the event, hoping the Innovation Centers can deepen cooperation with local schools and other organizations.

The event included an award session where the Innovation Centers at Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Southwest Jiaotong University received excellence award, while 11 Innovation Centers including the one at DLSEIZ were commended for their good practices, and seven teams and seven project directors received honors for their excellent performance in the centers' programs.

Apart from that, three participating experts shared their insights on innovation and entrepreneurship support from the perspectives of government services, school education and international collaboration, while a number of representatives from the Innovation Centers and their partners exchanged experience in their work and contributed ideas for future plans.

Moreover, the event incorporated an exhibition of outcomes made by the Innovation Centers and the award-winning ideas and inventions in the early China-US Young Maker Competition sponsored by the Ministry of Education.