At 8 p.m. Beijing time (9 a.m. Argentina time) on October 20, 2022, under the active promotion and guidance of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Dalian Municipal People's Government and the International Trade Association of Santa Fe, Argentina, the signing ceremony and academic seminar of the framework cooperation agreement between our university and the National Coastal University of Argentina were successfully held online.

Guests attending the meeting included Cheng Yingjun, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Dalian Municipal People's Government, Liu Jianjun, Deputy Director, Zheng Jun, Standing Member of the Dalian Municipal Committee of the Education Work Committee, Carlos Rafaelli, General Manager of the Chamber of Commerce of Foreign Trade of the Argentine Santa Fe Association of Foreign Trade, Cristian Achkar, representative of Chinese business, Marta Paris, Dean of the School of Engineering and Hydrology of the Argentine National Coastal University, and Leonardo Rufiner, Director of the Institute of Signal, System and Computing Intelligence, C é sar Mart í nez, Dean of the Department of Computer Science, etc. Li Yingqiu, Vice President of our university, attended the meeting. Rong Yidan, Director of the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation, Zheng Chunjun, Vice Dean of the School of Software and Director of the Department of Big Data Science and Technology, and others attended the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Rong Yidan.

At the beginning of the meeting, Director Cheng Yingjun delivered a speech. On behalf of the Dalian Foreign Affairs Office, Director Cheng expressed sincere congratulations on the success of the two universities in signing the contract. With the joint promotion of the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office and the Chamber of Commerce of Foreign Trade Association of Santa Fe, Argentina, the two universities have developed practical cooperation, providing a platform for training international talents and promoting economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the two countries. The common advantages of the two universities in the fields of computer and software information will also promote more in-depth cooperation between the two universities. As the gateway to the opening up of Northeast China, Dalian has constantly improved the upgrading and transformation of industrial structure and promoted the transformation from “Made in Dalian” to “Made Intelligently in Dalian”. The cooperation between the two universities also provides a good opportunity for Dalian and Santa Fe to carry out extensive cooperation in industrial, economic, social and other fields and form a win-win situation. The Dalian Foreign Affairs Office will also continue to support the two universities to start deeper and broader cooperation.

President Marta Paris, on behalf of the National Coastal University of Argentina, thanked the Dalian Foreign Affairs Office and the Chamber of Commerce of the Argentine Santa Fe Foreign Trade Association for their introduction and concluded friendly relations with Dalian Neusoft University of Information. At present, the two universities have carried out substantive cooperation in student exchange, and the departments of the two universities have also maintained close contact. The signing of the framework cooperation agreement will be the beginning of the cooperation between the two universities in designing and carrying out academic activities, jointly promoting professional development, scientific research, and joint projects in the field of regional and social development. It also lays the foundation for the deeper cooperation between the two sides.

Vice President Li Yingqiu, on behalf of Dalian Neusoft University of Information, thanked the Foreign Affairs Office of the Dalian Municipal People’s Government and the Argentine Santa Fe Foreign Trade Association for their active promotion, which facilitated the cooperation between the two universities. President Li introduced a series of achievements made by the university since its establishment, and hoped to cooperate with the Argentine National Binhai University as a century-old university in academic education, mutual visits of teachers, joint construction of courses, scientific research cooperation and other aspects. Vice President Li Yingqiu also sincerely invited teachers and students from the National Binhai University of Argentina to Dalian Neusoft University of Information for exchange and visit.

At the end of the meeting, the two universities signed a framework cooperation agreement online and successfully held the first scientific research seminar after the meeting.

At the seminar, Director Leonardo Rufiner first introduced the main research directions and some research results of the Institute; Director Zheng Chunjun then introduced the research contents and results of the scientific research team of the department, and gave a detailed introduction to multimodal emotional computing and big data research and digital twins in the agricultural field. Director Leonardo Rufiner expressed strong interest in the research topics of our university, and both sides said that they would strengthen understanding and cooperation in scientific research in the future.

The National Coastal University of Argentina is a well-known university with a complete range of disciplines, a long history and strong scientific research strength, ranking 7th among Argentine universities. This cooperation marks the beginning of a new chapter of exchanges and cooperation between our university and universities in South America. The year 2022 is the year of friendship and cooperation between China and Argentina, as well as the 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Argentina. The exchange and cooperation between universities can promote the development of the cultural and economic industries of the two countries and enhance mutual trust between the two peoples. In the future, our students will also have the opportunity to go to Argentina for exchange and study and experience different cultures and education.