On the morning of November 5, the summary conference for China International College Students’ Innovation Competition 2024 was held at the A100 Lecture Hall of the Student Center Building at the Minhang Campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Party Secretary Yang Zhenbin and President, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Ding Kuiling attended and delivered speeches. During the conference, awards were presented to units that made outstanding contributions to the competition and played a leading role in demonstration, including the "Demonstration Collective Award", "Service Pioneer Award", "Excellent Organization Award", and the "Special Contribution Award" for teachers. Representatives of some student and faculty volunteers were also recognized. Yang Zhenbin, Ding Kuiling, and other attending university leaders presented the awards to the winners. Among the awardees, the School of Foreign Languages won the "Excellent Organization Award", and Professor Tao Qing received the "Special Contribution Award".

The Secretary of the Party Committee of the School, Ding Jian (7th from the left), represented the School in accepting the "Outstanding Organization Award"

Tao Qing (center) was honored with the "Special Contribution Award"

To support this international innovation event, the School of Foreign Languages sent over 200 student volunteers to participate in the organization and preparation process of the competition. They played key roles in various positions, including as simultaneous interpreters, liaison teams for international and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan teams, and in the mobilization group, providing strong support for the smooth running of the competition.

In particular, to ensure the success of the simultaneous interpretation services, the School launched a recruitment drive for interpreters at the beginning of September. After a rigorous selection process, a team of teachers and student volunteers, led by Professor Tao Qing, Associate Dean of the School and Director of the Translation Department, was formed. The team consisted of 28 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students who participated in the entire event. Prior to the competition, Professor Dai Rongrong from the Translation Department conducted an intensive 30-day training for the student team. Despite the tight schedule and challenging translation tasks, this team of interpreters demonstrated exceptional professionalism and responsibility, successfully completing all tasks. They provided simultaneous interpretation services for over 150 international, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan teams in the final round and for the speakers during the championship competition. Additionally, Professor Tao Qing guided three translation master’s students to complete the English translation of the World University Innovation Report within a week. The quality of the translation was highly praised by the Ministry of Education.

In the volunteer services for this competition, the faculty and student team from the School of Foreign Languages fully leveraged their professional strengths, spreading China’s voice on the international stage, showcasing the talents of foreign language students in the new era, and promoting the volunteer spirit of dedication, friendship, mutual assistance, and progress. In the future, the School will deeply study and understand the important spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s reply, and strive to cultivate more versatile talents who have a strong sense of national pride, a global vision, and professional skills. The School aims to make new contributions in promoting China’s better integration into the world and helping the world better understand China.