On November 7, the 2020 Mathematics Double-First Class Construction Alliance Conference, hosted by the Mathematics Double First Class Construction Alliance and undertaken by Nankai University, was held in Tianjin. Nankai University President Cao Xuetao, along with Tian Gang, chairman of the Chinese Mathematical Society, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Attendees of the conference included more than 30 famous experts and scholars in the field of mathematics from more than 20 colleges and universities listed in the members of the alliance across the country.

Before the opening ceremony, Cao met up with Tian and other experts and scholars who have participated at the conference.

In his speech, on behalf of Nankai University Cao expressed his congratulations on the convening of the conference, welcomed all the guests and thanked all the experts and scholars for their long-term support to mathematics career of Nankai University. He pointed out that  mathematics is the traditional pillar-discipline of Nankai University. Its predecessor was the Department of Arithmetic, founded by Mr. Jiang Lifu in 1920, which was the second department of mathematics among Chinese universities at that time and one of the earliest disciplines established by Nankai University. He also thanked everyone for coming to Tianjin and Nankai on this occasion to discuss about the development of mathematics.

Tian Gang expressed his gratitude to Nankai University for hosting the meeting in his speech. He said that after a hundred years of development, Nankai University has made great achievements in the discipline of mathematics and it has become an important center of mathematics research and education in our country. The conference, hosted by Nankai University, is of great significance. Tian pointed out that Chinese mathematics has made great progress in talent introduction and talent training, which motivates us to move towards a higher goal: that of the Double First-Class Construction”. We hope that all the  mathematics researchers nationwide will work together to achieve cohesiveness, making China a powerful country in mathematics as soon as possible.

A high-end forum was held after the opening ceremony. The topics mainly included the discussion of improvement of the organizational structure of the alliance, the selection of chairman and vice chairman unit of the alliance council, the discussion and voting on the alliance charter, the alliance development plan, etc., but also in-depth discussions on selecting talents and training models.

According to reports, in recent years, the importance of mathematics has been paid more and more attention by the nation. In January 2018, the State Council issued the Several Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening Basic Scientific Research, suggesting that more emphasis should be given to crucial basic disciplines such as mathematics and physics. In August 2019, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Natural Science Foundation of China jointly formulated the Working Plan for Strengthening Mathematical Research, emphasizing the importance of mathematical research and providing continuous and stable support for basic mathematics in all aspects. The development of mathematics has thus ushered in unprecedented opportunities and challenges. In this context, on January 11, 2019, the Mathematics Double First-Class Construction Alliance was established at Peking University, aiming to lead the reform and innovation of the construction of mathematics in our country and to help building a mathematics powerhouse.

(Reported by Chengjin Wei, Translated by Wenhan Lin, Edited by Davide Francolino and JianjingYun)