On 17 April 2021, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Lifelong Education Forum and the Renaming Ceremony of Tianjin Radio and TV University (RTVU) were held at the Haihe Education Park campus.

Around 200 people attended the ceremony, including Cao Xiaohong, vice mayor of Tianjin People’s Government and vice chairman of Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC); Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the Open University of China (OUC); Wang Jing, vice secretary-general of Tianjin Municipal Government; Zhang Zongwang, vice secretary of the Party Committee and president of Tianjin Open University; leaders of Tianjin Municipal Committee and the district committees of the Communist Party of China and Tianjin Education Commission; relevant leaders from Beijing Open University (OU) and Hebei OU, representatives of the university’s retired leaders; members of the university leadership; all middle-level cadres; representatives of the teaching staff; representatives of outstanding alumni and alumna; and representatives of students. The ceremony was broadcast live to all the teachers and students of the municipal open university system.

Secretary Zhou Zhi of the Party Committee of Tianjin OU made a speech on behalf of the university, Wang Jing read out The Approval of Tianjin Municipal People’s Government on Renaming Tianjin Radio and TV as Tianjin Open University, and Cao Xiaohong and Jing Degang unveiled Tianjin OU and made speeches. The ceremony was presided over by Zhang Zongwang, vice secretary of the Party Committee and president of Tianjin OU.

Cao Xiaohong pointed out that the state and Tianjin Municipality have both made the strategic deployment of “building high quality educational system” a priority in their 14th five-year development plans. They have chartered the way and created broad potential for open universities to embark on a new journey and to enter a new era of development. The 14th Five-Year Plan of Tianjin Municipality explicitly put forward the need to “advance the renaming and comprehensive reform of Tianjin Radio and TV University.” It is hoped that the university will take the opportunity of the renaming to follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; to fully implement the Party’s educational policies; to put into effect the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education; to make serving lifelong learning for all its mission; to accelerate the advancement of comprehensive reform; to continue to improve the quality of education and talent development; to fully improve its capacity to serve the construction of a learning society and the economic and social development of Tianjin Municipality; to make greater contributions to promoting the all-round high quality development of Tianjin; to complete the construction of a modern socialist municipality characterised by innovative development, inclusivity and openness, a pleasant living environment, democratic governance, and culturally advanced happiness; and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China with positive action.

Wang Jing reading out The Approval of Tianjin Municipal People’s Government on Renaming Tianjin Radio and TV as Tianjin Open University

Jing Degang said that during its 63 years of history, Tianjin RTVU has succeeded in exploring a Tianjin model of developing macro higher education in a metropolis and formed Tianjin experiences of lifelong learning and lifelong education, making positive contributions to Tianjin’s economic and social development and, in particular, its reform and opening up. Standing at this new starting point, Tianjin OU will carry on the historical experience of realising the “four transformations,” i.e., from seeking quantity to strengthening quality, from a focus on qualifications to one on knowledge, from providing degrees to enhancing skills, and from prioritising online teaching to the integrated development of online and offline teaching, and will work together with others to create “four major platforms,” i.e., a major platform for lifelong education, a major platform for online education, a platform for flexible education, and a platform for external cooperation. In light of the requirements of the new development concept and development pattern, Tianjin OU will create still greater and more glorious achievements in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Zhou Zhi said that the university has become the Tianjin OU of today out of the history of Tianjin Hongzhuan Radio and Correspondence University, Tianjin Municipal Radio and Correspondence University, and Tianjin Radio and TV University. It has contributed to the promotion of economic and social development in Tianjin from “training working class intellectuals to achieve greater, faster, better and more economical results in building socialism” to massive degree compensation education after the inception of reform and opening up and onward to open education aimed at “serving lifelong learning for all” in the new era. After the renaming, the university will follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly study and implement the guiding principles of the fourth and fifth plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the ninth and tenth plenary sessions of the Eleventh CPC Tianjin Municipal Committee, and put into effect the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and the aim of serving lifelong learning for all. It will implement the guiding principles of the National Vocational Education Conference and initiate comprehensive reform in an all-round way based on the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan and the theme of high-quality sustainable development. It will accelerate transformation and upgrading, improve the level of its educational services, work hard to build a new development pattern, strive to embark on a new journey of open university construction, and endeavour to make new greater contributions to the construction of a learning society and a modern socialist metropolis in Tianjin.

Zhang Zongwang presiding over the renaming ceremony

After the renaming ceremony, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Lifelong Education Forum was held. Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the OUC, gave a lecture entitled “Advancing the Reform and Development of Open Universities by Studying and Implementing the Guiding Principles of the National Vocational Education Conference.” He described new work concepts and detailed measures from the three aspects of “what kind of open universities to run,” “how to run open universities,” and “what key tasks to focus on.” The lecture offers important guidance for open universities in the new era in order to promote cooperative development in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. In the salon activities following the lecture, secretary Yang Gongding of the Party Committee of Beijing OU, secretary Ji Xianping of the Party Committee of Hebei OU, and Zhang Zongwang, vice secretary of the Party Committee and president of Tianjin OU, conducted thorough discussions and exchanges on the role, positioning, and task of open universities in building a educational system serving lifelong learning for all, the comprehensive reform of open universities, and the cooperative construction and sharing mechanism of open universities in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei.

By Tianjin Open University