The Tongji University Innovation Center for China-US Youth Exchange was inaugurated in Shanghai on April 2, a result of the country's call to strengthen exchange of innovations between China-US youth and promote reform of Chinese universities' education in innovation and entrepreneurship.

The center, backed by Shanghai and American universities as well as leading enterprises at home and abroad, is dedicated to becoming a base for development of China-US innovation and entrepreneurship education and youth exchange.

Its major tasks are to widely launch innovation education, build closer ties between Chinese and American makers, and transfer innovation and entrepreneurship achievement more effectively.

The center will host a China-US Youth Maker Competition Shanghai Stop this year, and plans to organize a global maker summit together with MakerFairs and Slush, according to insiders.

Tongji University has already sought cooperation with first-rated American universities. It worked with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to build FabLab, China's first maker center, in Shanghai in 2013. It also became a partner of MIT's Media Lab in 2017.

Tongji has been focusing on university-enterprise cooperation. For example, in 2014 it built a united maker space with Intel, and in 2015 established a joint lab with Alibaba. It also created a united "user experience design" lab with Microsoft in 2016. The labs have been instructing Chinese makers and helping students develop new products with social and industrial value.

The Tongji University Innovation Center for China-US Youth Exchange is inaugurated in Shanghai on April 2. [Photo/chinanews.com]