A Delegation from John Deere Visits TJU

On December 6, Vice Party Secretary Li Yidan met with Mr. Douglas M. Durant, Manager of Product Standards at John Deere, and his delegation. Also in attendance were the representatives from the Office of International Cooperation, the Committee of Youth League, and the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

Vice Party Secretary Li extended his warm welcome to the guests and gave a presentation on TJU history as well as students’ scientific and technological activities. He added that TJU maintained a good relationship with John Deere, and hoped that both sides could develop substantial cooperation in more fields to enhance win-win development. Mr. Durant indicated that it was his honor to visit TJU, the first university in China. According to him, the purposes of this visit were twofold: as a representative of John Deere, he wished to promote the cooperation with TJU; and as an alumnus of the Virginia Tech (VT), he wished to do his bit in facilitating the collaboration between VT and TJU, particularly on the student exchange. Furthermore, he hoped that TJU could be the participant from China to attend ASABE Annual International 1/4 Scale Tractor Design Competition. There were 25 international delegations but not any Chinese participants yet.

During the visit, the delegation had in-depth discussions with the representatives from the Office of International Cooperation and the Committee of Youth League for the potential mode, mechanism and financial aid of cooperation, and reached a preliminary agreement.

John Deere was founded in 1837. Its headquarters is located in Maureen, Illinois, US. It is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction equipment, agricultural equipment and forestry equipment. In 2007, John Deere set up the Special Scholarship and has denoted $400,000 to 127 distinguished students at TJU.