On the morning of July 17, the inauguration ceremony of the Hunan Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry College Alliance, themed “Cross-Border Synergy, Industry-Education Co-Prosperity,” along with the launch ceremony of the Hunan Provincial Competition of the Cross-Border E-Commerce Track of the International Trade Competition under the 2026 China University Business Elite Challenge, was held at the Lingchuang Lecture Hall in Xiangjiang Building. Attending the event were Hou Junjun, Deputy Secretary of the CPC HUTB Committee and President; Deng Weiping, Member of the CPC Leading Group and Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce of Hunan Province; Pan Aimin, Vice President; and other guests.

In his address, Deng Weiping pointed out that the current shortage of versatile talents combining hands-on skills, operational capabilities, and supply chain management expertise has become a bottleneck for industrial development. The Department of Commerce of Hunan Province will provide comprehensive support for the alliance’s development from both policy and resource perspectives. He expressed hope that the alliance will serve as a “reservoir” for talent cultivation, a “testing ground” for industry-education integration, a “think tank” for industry development, and a “bridge of connection” for opening up, helping Hunan build an inland highland of reform and opening-up.

In his speech, Hou stated that as the rotating chair unit among alliance universities, HUTB will coordinate resources from universities and enterprises across the province. Focusing on four key directions—“joint talent cultivation, joint integration promotion, joint development planning, and joint future creation”—the university aims to bridge the education chain and the industry chain, and promote the joint construction and sharing of resources in curriculum, practical training, faculty, and employment. The goal is to build the alliance into a national benchmark for industry-education integration in cross-border e-commerce.

Zhou Min, CPC Secretary of the School of Economy & Trade, delivered a report on the alliance’s preparatory work. All participating representatives voted on-site to adopt the Constitution of the Hunan Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry College Alliance, and the list of the first council and the dual rotating chairs was announced. Witnessed by the attending leaders, the plaque for the Hunan Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry College Alliance was officially unveiled, followed by the plaque-awarding ceremony for the chair units and director units in sequence. Hou Xiangqun, Associate Dean of the School of Economy & Trade, released the alliance’s Annual Work Plan and Proposal.

The Hunan Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry College Alliance is a non-profit industry-university-research cooperation consortium that adopts a dual rotating chair mechanism between universities and enterprises. The university’s Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry College was established in 2020 and was selected as part of Hunan’s fifth batch of provincial-level modern industrial colleges in 2025. It stands as a core platform for the university’s industry-education integration, aligning with the Hunan Cross-Border E-Commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone and serving the strategic positioning and mission of the “Three Highlands, Four New Missions” strategy. The university obtained approval to offer the undergraduate major in Cross-Border E-Commerce as early as 2022, making it one of the first universities in Hunan Province to develop programs in this field.

Following the unveiling ceremony, Liu Daobo, Director of the Academic Affairs Division, presided over the launch ceremony of the Hunan Provincial Competition of the Cross-Border E-Commerce Track of the International Trade Competition under the 2026 China University Business Elite Challenge. Hu Xinmei, Deputy Director of the Education and Training Department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Commercial Sub-Council, introduced the national competition system and the university-enterprise co-construction and co-education plan. Li Xinlong, Chairman of Yanzhi Lifang (Xiamen) Industry-Education Integration Technology Group Co., Ltd., briefed on the technical support and industry-education collaboration plan. Luo Shuanglin, Executive Dean of the Hunan Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry College, detailed the provincial competition's schedule, format, and evaluation criteria. Zhou Min then announced the official launch of the Hunan Provincial Competition.

(Reported by School of Economy & Trade)