On April 28, 2025, Professor Wojciech Nowiak from the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland led a delegation to visit Shenzhen University. Professor Gong Xiaofeng, Specially Appointed Professor at the School of Government, Shenzhen University, and Dean of the Institute for Emerging Industries Development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, hosted the event. Under the theme of "China-Polish Symposium on Collaborative Innovation for Smart Cities and AI Governance," the two sides engaged in in-depth discussions on topics such as China-Europe cooperation, AI industry synergy, and smart city construction, reaching several practical consensuses. Faculty and students from the Shenzhen University Institute for Emerging Industries Development in the Greater Bay Area, the Academy of International Affairs at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology participated in the seminar.
Figure 1 Group photo of participants at the "China-Polish Symposium on Collaborative Innovation for Smart Cities and AI Governance" seminar
Professor Wojciech Nowiak stated in the exchange that he has long followed China's development experiences, particularly appreciating China's practical approaches to addressing labor structure transitions and regional balanced development during industrialization. He noted that high-end think tanks are important platforms for enhancing mutual trust between China and Europe. Professor Gong Xiaofeng emphasized that strengthening China-Europe cooperation and actively promoting liberalization in areas such as goods, capital, talent, labor, information, and data is a win-win endeavor.
Figure 2 Scene from the "China-Polish Symposium on Collaborative Innovation for Smart Cities and AI Governance"
Discussing smart cities and AI governance, Professor Wojciech Nowiak highly praised China's practical experiences, expressing admiration for China's achievements in implementing "5G + AI + Cloud Services," particularly focusing on Shenzhen's innovative practices in intelligent transformation of traditional industries, and hoping to strengthen learning and exchanges. Professor Gong Xiaofeng introduced that Shenzhen currently has 50,000 robotics companies and 3,000 AI companies, illustrating with vivid cases the current applications of AI in industries such as manufacturing and healthcare.
As the "Chinese sample" for smart city construction, Shenzhen's practices in digital governance and intelligent public services became a focal point of the exchange, with Professor Gong Xiaofeng sharing experiences in building Shenzhen's government digital platforms. The two sides also reached consensus on pilot projects for China-Europe cooperation, planning to launch "small and beautiful" demonstration projects in areas such as AI data technology, digital governance of public services, and green energy, starting from Poland to create demonstration effects and promote broader collaboration.
Figure 3 Professor Wojciech Nowiak (left) and Professor Gong Xiaofeng (right)
At the Symposium's conclusion, Polish students showcased their first-prize-winning "Impressions of China" themed video works, sharing their observations from China. Both professors highly affirmed the bridging role of the younger generation in public diplomacy.
The Symposium concluded successfully in an atmosphere of openness and mutual learning. Participants generally believed that this innovative collaborative exchange opens broad prospects for cooperation in China -Polish smart cities and AI governance, looking forward to practical collaborations in more areas in the future, injecting new momentum into China-Polish university cooperation and China-Europe sci-tech and cultural exchanges.
Writing | Jiao Jin
Layout | Li Huan
Initial Review | Wei Yi
Secondary Review | Bai Min
Final Review | Gong Xiaofeng, Gu Zhijun
