The China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Doctoral Training Innovation Center holds its opening ceremony at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Sept. 5, 2025. (Harbin Institute of Technology/Handout via Xinhua)

HARBIN, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- The China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Doctoral Training Innovation Center held its opening ceremony at the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, welcoming its first cohort of 120 doctoral students from SCO member states.

The students hail from elite universities in SCO member states, including HIT, Peking University and Tsinghua University in China, St. Petersburg State University in Russia, the Kyrgyz State Technical University, and the Belarusian National Technical University.

Founded on the initiative of HIT, the China-SCO Doctoral Training Innovation Center aims to cultivate talent with interdisciplinary, cross-national research capabilities, and to contribute to the technological innovation and sustainable development of SCO member states.

Batir Tursunov, deputy secretary general of the SCO, said in a video address that the center marks a milestone in educational integration. He said it will advance talent cultivation, promote the deeper integration of industry, academia and research, and support national innovation strategies, injecting fresh impetus into scientific and educational cooperation under the SCO framework.

Chen Jie, Party secretary of HIT, said the center will focus on collaborative innovation in frontier fields such as AI, energy and the digital economy, and that it aims to foster a high-caliber, global-minded and interdisciplinary pool of young talent in science, technology and the humanities. ■