Chongqing - The 58th and 59th Higher Education Expo China (HEEC), hosted by the China Association of Higher Education (CAHE), will be held at the Chongqing International Expo Center from April 8 to 10. 

The 58th and 59th Higher Education Expo China(HEEC), hosted by the China Association of Higher Education (CAHE), will be held at the Chongqing International Expo Center from April 8 to 10. (Photo/Higher Education Expo China)

The exhibition area of this year's expo covers an area of over 120,000 square meters, with over 10,000 participating companies, over 1,500 participating universities, and over 1,000 experts and scholars. It is expected to attract more than 130,000 offline visitors.

The HEEC was founded in 1992 and has gone through 31 years and 57 sessions, covering 19 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. It has become one of China's largest and most influential comprehensive brand exhibitions in higher education.

China's 58th and 59th Higher Education Expo is expected to attract more than 130,000 offline visitors. (Photo/Higher Education Expo China)

The theme of this year's expo is "Integration of Schools and Industry: High-quality Development," It will launch three major sections: the High-tech Equipment Exhibition, the High-level Conference Forum, and the Information Technology and High-end Achievement Release.

This year's expo will feature six exhibition areas and four new specialized areas in the High-tech Equipment Exhibition section. 

The six traditional exhibition areas include laboratory and scientific research equipment, information technology and smart education, training, and electromechanical, medical education and health, logistics and safe campuses, and sports facilities and supplies.

The expo will showcase domestic and international high-tech enterprise products, including world top 500 companies such as China Telecom, Skyworth, and Changhong, and leading education information technology enterprises such as Inspur, DJI, HiTA, Honghe, Aoweia, and Hisense, as well as leading enterprises that produce teaching and training equipment, such as Haier Biomedical, Xinhua Medical, Shunyu, and Aucma. 

The showcased products cover various fields, such as artificial intelligence systems, autonomous driving, AI chips, intelligent robots, smart laboratories, and high-end electronic components.

The four new specialized areas include the University Zone, the Employment Zone, the Competition Zone, and the City Zone. 

Among them, the University Zone will focus on showcasing the achievements of 110 universities in 28 provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) in China, and it will also feature three special areas - "Digital Ideological and Political Education," "Labor Education," and "Higher Education Training."

The Employment Zone will hold the 2023 Recruitment Fair for Graduating Students of Universities (Southwest Region), with over 10,000 online and offline companies providing 100,000 job positions. 

The Competition Zone will showcase 100 high-level national discipline competition achievements and exhibit the development and characteristics of national university competitions over the past decade. 

The City Zone will be themed "New Era, New Journey, New Chongqing, and New Higher Education," showcasing the high-quality development of Chongqing's higher education, scientific innovation, and talent cultivation over the past decade.

It is reported that this year's HEEC will focus on three main themes: education reform, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation. Over 80 conference forums will be held to bring the audience a cutting-edge, high-end, and content-rich academic feast.

At the same time, information technology and high-end achievement releases will also be an essential topic of this year's expo. The "Online China Higher Education Expo" platform will carry out exhibitions for education industry enterprises, university scientific and technological innovation achievements, and college students' innovative entrepreneurship projects, among other display activities.

"Higher education institutions, as important breeding grounds for scientific and technological achievements, should actively transform these achievements into usable, producible, and valuable technology products, thereby enhancing their economic and social benefits," said Zhang Daliang, vice chairman of the China Association of Higher Education.

"This year will hold the "Second China Sci-Tech Innovation Forum & Higher Education Technology Transaction Fair," including a main forum and three major industry sub-forums. 

The main forum will organize the on-site signing of cooperation agreements for school-enterprise and school-region cooperation projects. It will also invite experts to give theme reports on innovation in higher education to help transform academic achievements and promote industrial innovation."