Representatives of Universiti Putra Malaysia visit the building of the Chinese Satellite Campus of Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Pingtan, located off the coast of Fujian province and the closest place on the mainland to the island of Taiwan, is a comprehensive pilot zone focused on cross-Straits integration and is a key area for international trade and logistics. It is also recognized as China's second international tourism island, following Hainan.

Recently, a "feast of ideas" brimming with innovative vitality and cooperative vision unfolded in Pingtan. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Xiamen University Pingtan Institute jointly hosted a series of seminars: one on establishing a Digital Economy and Business Intelligence Research Joint Laboratory, another on the development of UPM's China Satellite Campus, and a third on "Belt and Road" China (Pingtan) and Malaysia Industry-Academia-Research Collaboration. These events aim to further deepen strategic cooperation between China and Malaysia in education and scientific research.

The Universiti Putra Malaysia China Satellite Campus, hosted by UPM, has evolved into a comprehensive platform integrating master's and doctoral research, undergraduate articulation, scientific research incubation, talent exchange, and alumni services since its unveiling in Pingtanin October 2024. Led by UPM's School of Business and Economics, this campus serves as UPM's core hub in China, fully committed to promoting industry-academia-research collaborative development under the "Belt and Road" framework, thereby opening crucial pathways for talent cultivation and research commercialization between the two nations.

"Pingtan's support has provided us with an excellent platform!" expressed Bany Ariffin Amin Noordin, dean of UPM's School of Business and Economics, with great anticipation. "We plan to establish key projects such as tourism industry research and economic discipline development in Pingtan, comprehensively deepening our academic, business, and research cooperation network."

Ismi Arif Ismail, vice presidentof UPM, emphasized that this series of activities represents an innovative practice of "Belt and Road" cooperation. He stated that by integrating cross-border educational resources, it will "inject strong international impetus into high-quality regional economic development." He added that future efforts will focus on academic research, innovation incubation, talent cultivation, and community empowerment, carrying out high-impact joint projects to promote talent development between China and Malaysia.

With the implementation of these collaborative projects, China-Malaysia cooperation has achieved a leapfrog upgrade from a single research field to a full chain encompassing "education-talent-industry-service." This establishes a long-term mechanism for youth exchange, enterprise cooperation, and achievement commercialization between the two countries. Lin Fan, executive dean of Xiamen University Pingtan Institute, highlighted that as an International Tourism Island, Pingtan urgently requires internationalized composite talents. He noted that this collaboration with UPM will not only accelerate the construction of joint laboratories and talent exchange but also leverage Pingtan's data resources and digital economy policy advantages to cultivate new growth points in areas such as marine digital economy and cultural-tourism integration, thereby solidifying the talent foundation for regional development.

"Universiti Putra Malaysia focuses on cultivating interdisciplinary talent in digital economy and business intelligence and has established a joint laboratory at its China Satellite Campus," said Lin Fan. "They are very interested in Pingtan's existing data centers and computing resources, and we are currently improving our digital economy policies, including data customs and cross-border data transactions, which are also very attractive to them. They have already put forward clear cooperation needs, and we are full of confidence in the subsequent development and introduction of related professionals."