May Signing, Two Years Completion! The Research Building of Peking University-Wanhua Chemical Joint Research Center Opens Grandly, with Eight Projects Simultaneously Moving In

In just five months of negotiations and communication, Peking University and Wanhua Chemical quickly signed a cooperation agreement; and from the groundbreaking to the official start of operation, it took less than two years. In the second year after the signing of the agreement, Peking University and Wanhua Chemical's cooperation ushered in a new milestone. On August 15, the Peking University-Wanhua Chemical Joint Research Center Research Building, located at the foot of Cizhou Mountain in Huanghai New Area, Yantai, was officially put into use, and the ceremony for the first batch of project entry was held at Wanhua's Global R&D Center.

The inauguration of the Peking University-Wanhua Chemical Joint Research Center Research Building marks a new stage in the school-enterprise cooperation between Peking University and Wanhua Chemical. Zhang Jin, a member of the Party's Central Committee and vice president of Peking University, pointed out that the inauguration of the research building marks the beginning of a new chapter in the cooperation between the two sides. He stressed that Peking University will take this opportunity to more effectively utilize its intellectual resources and talent advantages, deepen cooperation with Wanhua Chemical Group, complement each other's strengths, and jointly cultivate strategic scientists and outstanding engineers in the field of chemical materials. Both sides will strive to promote basic research and engineering and industrialization of chemical materials, and work together to make the cooperation a model for school-enterprise cooperation. Chairman and President of Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. Liao Zengtai said that the research advantages in materials and chemistry at Peking University will be combined with Wanhua Chemical Group's industrial resources and market experience to jointly carry out high-level scientific research projects and cultivate high-quality scientific research talent, promote the transfer of scientific and technological achievements, and contribute to the progress of national science and technology and industrial upgrading.

The "seed" of cooperation between Peking University and Wanhua Chemical was actually planted in 2022. That year, the two sides signed a cooperation framework agreement and jointly established a joint research center, with branches in Beijing and Yantai. In August last year, the permanent venue of the "Bayuquan Innovation Conference" hosted by Peking University and co-hosted by Wanhua Chemical was located in Yantai. In June this year, the engineering construction of the joint research center (Yantai branch) was successfully completed. On the same day, the Beijing Graphene Application Laboratory officially moved in, and six research projects are currently being actively promoted.

The high-end chemical and new materials industry in Yantai is one of the city's two 200 billion-level industries, and is also the dominant industry in Yantai Huanghai Bohai New Area. In recent years, Yantai Huanghai Bohai New Area has adhered to the development concept of green, low-carbon and high-quality development, and is committed to building a world-class industrial cluster and a global new materials industrial base. By magnifying the leading enterprises such as Wanhua, Taihe, and Wanrun, the New Area has accelerated the construction of a number of new major strategic projects, forming a feature chemical industry system with high-end petrochemical, new materials, and fine chemicals as the mainstay.

Innovation is the core of economic development in Yantai Huanghaibo New Area. In recent years, the district has deeply implemented the strategy of innovation-driven development, building a comprehensive and multi-level innovation and entrepreneurship ecological system. It has jointly established 46 major scientific and technological innovation platforms with universities and research institutes such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, and Tsinghua University. The district has more than 400 municipal-level research and development platforms, has implemented more than 1,300 projects of cooperation between universities and enterprises, and a series of original and groundbreaking scientific and technological innovation achievements have been unveiled.