"Education should be faceted, and every student must have their own educational ideals" is what Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group, said at the 2023 Hainan International Forum on Innovation and Development of Higher Education, and it is also a purpose of his educational philosophy over the years.
Taizhou, Zhejiang, for Li Shufu, is the place where the dream begins. In 1997, Geely entered the automotive industry, at a time when China's automotive industry was extremely lacking in both resources and talents. In order to change this situation, Li Shufu set his sights on the education industry and founded Zhejiang College of Economics and Management. Therefore, Taizhou is not only the starting point of Geely Group's development, but also the starting point of Geely's educational history.
After 2000, Li Shufu once again set his educational eyes from vocational and technical colleges to universities, and he wanted to establish a real university that met the market demand, so he successively funded the construction of Geely College and Sanya College.
Over the years, Geely has always regarded education as the driving force for its development. Geely's factory is opened, and the school is opened. From Taizhou to Sanya, from Chengdu to Xiangtan ......Over the past 20 years, Geely Group has been actively exploring and innovating in the field of education based on the importance of cultivating talents. A number of non-profit colleges and universities have been established, covering multiple levels of training, from vocational education to graduate school. It has continuously provided a steady stream of professionals to the society, especially in the automotive field, and has trained more than 180,000 talents for China's automobile manufacturing industry.
Many people may not understand why Li Shufu, as an entrepreneur in the automotive industry, should spend so much effort on education
But in fact, when you look back at the history of China's automobile development, you can understand that higher education is the cornerstone of supporting the development and growth of national industry. Just like Li Shufu mentioned in his live broadcast debut a few years ago, "The core technology will not be sold to you by others, and the core technology sold to you is not called the core technology." Therefore, he hopes to point out a path that cannot be bypassed - starting from education, through talent and innovation, to carry out core technology research and development.
When the ideal "educational feelings" collided with the skinny "employment problem", Li Shufu explored a "new model" of educational innovation, that is, cultivating application-oriented talents in the way of integration of industry and education.
Taking Sanya University as an example, relying on Geely Group's industrial chain, education chain advantages and platform resources, it has launched multi-level and all-round cooperation with global strategic partners such as scientific research institutes, JD.com, and Alibaba in popular employment fields such as green methanol energy, automobile manufacturing, and artificial intelligence, actively exploring the cultivation of talents urgently needed at the forefront of the industry, creating a characteristic model of the integration of industry and education in higher education, and providing students with a broader development platform.
At the same time, Sanya College focuses on cultivating students' scientific research innovation and social practice ability, focusing on the "six steps" of industry-education integration through disciplines targeting advantageous industries, connecting with leading enterprises through majors, solving key position problems through courses, responding to industrial changes with talent training programs, digitally linking online and offline scenarios, and exporting intelligence and talents welcomed by the industry. This summer alone, teachers and students of Sanya College won 23 national awards and 73 provincial awards, covering artificial intelligence, rural revitalization, mobile communications, computers and other fields.
For Li Shufu, the integration of industry and education is the landing of his educational feelingsFor the students of Guangzhou, the educational philosophy of thousands of people is the guardian of their academic dreams. Talent training and education reform are the key to promoting the development of China's automotive industry, and they are also the embodiment of Li Shufu and Geely Holding Group's mission of "helping more people achieve better value".