To seize the opportunity for the development of AI, accelerate the progress of “Double First-Class” initiative and better serve the national development strategy, The Institute of Artificial Intelligence Xiamen University has been established. The inauguration ceremony was held in the lecture hall of Science and Arts Center on 10 October. Chen Chun, Honorary Director of this institute, Huang Xiaozhou, Vice Mayor of Xiamen, Zhang Rong, President of Xiamen University and Zhang Yan, Chairman of Xiamen University Council jointly unveiled the nameplate of the institute.

In his speech, President Zhang said that accelerating the development of the new generation of artificial intelligence is an important strategic opportunity for China to win the initiative of global science and technology competition. Only by proactively adapting to the development of discipline trends can Xiamen University always stand at the forefront, play a leading role and achieve high-quality connotative development. Xiamen University places great expectation of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence, while the students, faculty, alumni and all sectors of the community at large are also looking forward to it.

On behalf of the municipal government of Xiamen, Huang Xiaozhou congratulated on the inauguration of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence Xiamen University. He pointed out that Xiamen municipal government attaches great importance to the development of artificial intelligence industry. The establishment of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence Xiamen University will certainly help Xiamen to build the “Silicon Valley” of artificial intelligence and forge a model benchmark for the national artificial intelligence city. The Xiamen municipal government firmly supports development of the institute. It is hoped that the institute will rely on the multidisciplinary advantages of XMU to form a high-end talent training base and an academic research base for in-depth integration of industry, university and research, so as to better integrate into and serve Xiamen’s economic and social development.

During the ceremony, Chen Chun was appointed as the Honorary Director of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence Xiamen University. On behalf of XMU, Zhang Yan presented the appointment letter to him. 

In his speech, Chen Chun said that the four years of systematic study at Xiamen University laid a solid foundation for him to engage in computer research and application, which also cultivated the spirit of hard work and practicality. In recent years, Xiamen University has made many innovative achievements in the field of artificial intelligence. The establishment of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence marks a new stage in the development of artificial intelligence at Xiamen University.

In 1982, the Department of Computer Science was established. Six years later, the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Applications of Xiamen University (Institute of Artificial Intelligence of Xiamen University) was established, and in 2006, the undergraduate major in “Intelligent Science and Technology” was offered. In 2019, Xiamen University became one of the first 35 universities approved to build a major in artificial intelligence. At present, Xiamen University has formed distinctive research characteristics in artificial intelligence-related fields such as social network computing, artificial intelligence chips, multimedia big data analysis, machine translation and so on.

In the future, the Institute of Artificial Intelligence Xiamen University will further strengthen the integration between its AI disciplines and XMU’s traditional advantageous disciplines such as economics, chemistry, oceanography and medicine, relying on the strategic support of domestic first-class AI enterprises such as Huawei and Tencent, as well as enterprises in Fujian like Sunshine Group and Qudian. Efforts will be made to build the Institute into an important base for gathering and cultivating high-end talents, for producing high-level original results and for promoting the integration of disciplines, which will also be a first-class AI research and talent training institution with global influence.