Shanghai Jiao Tong University launches Center for Studies of Global South Sustainable Development

Shanghai Jiao Tong University launched the Center for Studies of Global South Sustainable Development on Friday, aiming to address new challenges faced by the Global South and advance the frontiers of technology and humanities.

Experts from the facility emphasized that research on the Global South seeks to extract valuable insights from the modernization and sustainable development paths of countries like China and facilitate a transition towards a just, multipolar international order and contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Peng Qinglong, director of the newly established center, said that the center will focus on six major technological and industrial directions: future manufacturing, future information, future materials, future energy, future space, and future health. These areas align with the university's strategic initiatives in marine, health, information, materials, and energy.

"The center plans to conduct interdisciplinary research and collaborative problem-solving to produce research and practical outcomes that are intellectually pioneering, technologically supportive, socially beneficial, and internationally influential," Peng said.

"The center will also be committed to strengthening research in key and cutting-edge collaborative fields — such as critical issues like climate change, public health, and technological cooperation — while prioritizing the cultivation of international talent," Peng said. "This approach aims to continuously advance the development of cooperative networks and project mechanisms targeting the Global South."

Cheng Lingzhi, deputy director of the center, added that the facility will concentrate on crucial areas, such as next-generation information technology, new energy storage and renewable energy, aerospace and agriculture, biomedicine and health, high-end equipment and intelligent manufacturing, as well as new materials, to conduct comprehensive assessments, trend analyses, and policy evaluations to produce policy recommendations that are strategically forward-looking and practically feasible.