The 3rd SJTU China-Japan Youth Elite Program was successfully opened on the evening of September 2, 2024. More than 60 volunteers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University met with 21 students from University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagoya University and Tohoku University in Japan. Liu Lei, Deputy Director of the China Exchange Center of Nagoya University, Zhu Yifan, Deputy Director of the International Affairs Division of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Tao Qing, Deputy Dean of the School of Foreign Languages of Shanghai Jiao Tong University attended the event and delivered speeches. Mr. Ding Jian, Party Secretary of School of Foreign Languages, Mr. Ren Zhujing, Deputy Party Secretary, Mr. Jin Wenfeng, Director of Department of Japanese, Mr. Liu Jia, Director of Undergraduate Affairs Office, and Mr. Zhang Ruining, Director in charge of Japanese Exchange from the International Affairs Division, attended the event.

Zhu Yifan delivered a welcome speech on behalf of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She said that through a series of activities and seminars, this elite program will endeavour to provide a platform for Chinese and Japanese college students to broaden their horizons and inspire their thinking, and is committed to becoming a bridge to deepen friendship and cooperation between the young people of China and Japan. She expected the students to think deeply about how the two sides can jointly tackle challenges and promote sustainable development of society in the current context of globalization and to make full use of this opportunity to exchange ideas, make friends and grow together.

Tao Qing said in his speech that China and Japan were geographically close and culturally linked, and there were sufficient reasons for students of the two countries to have friendly exchanges through various cultural activities. He hoped that Japanese students can better understand the university, contemporary Shanghai and China through seeing and hearing with their own eyes and ears.

Liu Lei took the seasonal mooncake as the starting point and introduced the cultural diversity and commonality of China and Japan from a small perspective. She started with the round and full shape of "cake", one of the Chinese specialty, and used homonyms to interpret from "circle" to "destiny", emphasizing that it was pure luck for the Chinese and Japanese students thousands of miles apart to meet each other in the elite program, and hoped that they would cherish the opportunity and strive to increase their knowledge, gain insights, and make friends. 

Afterwards, the Chinese and Japanese college students actively introduced and communicated with each other in a warm atmosphere, and looked forward to the upcoming week-long trip together.

Time flied. Year 2019 witnessed the first SJTU China-Japan Youth Elite Program, opening a new chapter of study and exchange between young people from top universities in China and Japan. As time went by, in 2021, despite the challenges of the global epidemic, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Tokyo overcame the difficulties and successfully held the second Shanghai Jiao Tong University China-Japan Youth Elite Program Online. Today, the third Shanghai Jiao Tong University China-Japan Youth Elite Program officially kicked off. It was believed that this elite program will become a new starting point for the young people of China and Japan to deepen mutual understanding and enhance friendship. It was expected that the Chinese and Japanese students will work hand in hand to explore the mysteries of culture, deepen cooperation and exchanges, promote mutual learning, and contribute to the youth power for friendly exchanges between China and Japan.