At the meeting, Prof. Gong Qihuang - President of Peking University expressed his joy and honor to welcome Prof. Le Quan and the delegation of VNU. He shared that after the visit of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam To Lam to China from August 18-20, 2024, the two sides issued a Joint Statement on further strengthening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, promoting the building of a community of shared future between Vietnam and China. In that context, strengthening cooperation in the field of higher education and talent training between the two countries is increasingly emphasized. Sharing many similarities as both are leading, multidisciplinary, multi-field higher education institutions and are important in training talents for the country, Prof. Gong Qihuang believes that cooperation between Peking University and VNU will contribute to promoting the development of relations between the two countries.
Prof. Gong Qihuang said that, due to the impact of the Covid pandemic, direct exchange activities have been limited. However, it also opens up opportunities for online exchange, creating a new trend in developing education on digital platforms. Prof. Gong Qihuang invited VNU to join the international alliance of universities on developing digital intelligence education to discuss the development direction of higher education institutions in the digital age. Speaking at the meeting, Director Le Quan thanked the leaders of Peking University for their welcome and expressed his great respect for the special relationship between the two units. Director Le Quan said that VNU was assigned by the leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam to play a leading role in the national education system through training, nurturing talents and high-quality research; developing into a university in the top 500 universities in the world by 2030. He believes that expanding cooperation with Chinese partners, especially prestigious educational institutions such as Peking University, will contribute significantly to VNU achieving its development goals. At the same time, the leaders of VNU also consider cooperation with Peking University an important activity contributing to promoting cooperation in education and training between Vietnam and China. Expressing agreement with the cooperation proposals of the Director of Peking University, Director Le Quan expressed his hope that VNU will soon become a member of the international alliance of universities on developing digital intelligence education. At the same time, the head of VNU proposed that the two sides implement cooperation programs to train young scientists; exchange programs for lecturers and students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology, social sciences and humanities, etc.
VNU and Peking University have a long tradition of cooperation, both being key members of the Forum of Four Key Universities in East Asia (BESETOHA), including VNU, Seoul National University, Tokyo University and Peking University, established in 1999. Within the framework of the BESETOHA Forum, universities have implemented cooperation programs in training, scientific research and experience exchange, to propose common initiatives to promote university development. VNU President Le Quan expressed his hope that Peking University and other universities will restart the BESETOHA Forum to continue carrying out academic and research activities, demonstrating social responsibility as well as the capacity and position of leading universities in the region.

Next, VNU President Le Quan had a talk with Prof. Hao Ping - Party Secretary, Chairman of the Council of Peking University.
Prof. Hao Ping expressed his respect for the visit and work of VNU President Le Quan at Peking University. He believed that, with the determination of the leaders of both sides, cooperation activities will soon be built and implemented, contributing significantly to bringing the educational cooperation between Vietnam and China to a new level. He assessed that the cooperation between the two universities reflects the guiding spirit and wishes of the leaders of the two countries at the present stage. Informing Prof. Hao Ping about the cooperation proposals in the previous discussion with Prof. Gong Qihuang, Prof. Le Quan once again affirmed his determination to strengthen cooperation with leading Chinese educational institutions such as Peking University, not only in traditional fields such as social sciences and humanities, Vietnamese language and culture, Chinese language and culture, but also in new technology, university administration, research and technology transfer.
Prof. Le Quan said that VNU has moved its headquarters to Hoa Lac, starting a journey of aspiration for a smart university city in Vietnam. VNU leaders consider this an opportunity to restructure and transform the operating model towards bringing many technological, smart, green and modern solutions. He believes that with the sharing of experiences, development lessons and cooperation and support from Peking University, VNU will soon achieve its goals, contributing to building high-quality human resources and developing the country. Prof. Le Quan also invited Prof. Hao Ping, Prof. Gong Qihuang and scientists from Peking University visited VNU and attended the 7th International Conference on Vietnamese Studies in 2025 hosted by VNU.   Speaking at the meetings, Assoc.Prof. Dr. Lai Quoc Khanh emphasized the long history, academic potential and affirmed the leading position of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under the Vietnam National University, Hanoi in the fields of social sciences and humanities, respectfully and willingly implementing cooperation activities in research and training with leading universities in China, considering this the responsibility of the scientific community of both sides in contributing to consolidating and developing the increasingly good relations between the two countries.
Within the framework of the visit and work in China, Director Le Quan and the delegation of Vietnam National University, Hanoi exchanged and signed memorandums of understanding on cooperation with prestigious universities, such as: Xiamen University, Fujian province; Tsinghua University - one of the largest and most prestigious higher education institutions in the world's top 20.
Promising areas of cooperation between VNU and major Chinese universities such as artificial intelligence, social sciences and humanities, engineering technology, computer science, etc. will be realized by signing specific cooperation agreements in the near future.