In a bid to deepen university-enterprise collaboration and support national strategies, Liu Yongjie, Chairman and Party Secretary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation International Limited (CNOOC International), led a delegation to Chengdu University of Technology (CDUT) on March 4th to attend the opening ceremony of the “CNOOC Global Strategy Master’s Program.” Also present were Liu Qingyou, the university’s Party Secretary, and Zeng Ying, a member of the Party Committee and Vice President, alongside representatives from the Graduate School, the College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, the College of Energy (College of Modern Shale Gas Industry), the College of Geophysics, the Institute of Sedimentary Geology, as well as faculty mentors and student representatives. The ceremony was presided over by Chen Yan, Director of the Party Committee’s Graduate Student Affairs Office.
Site of the Opening Ceremony
Liu Qingyou extended a warm welcome to the delegation and underscored the long-standing partnership between the university and CNOOC International, founded on the principles of “complementary strengths, shared resources, joint training, and mutual benefit.” He highlighted the program as a pioneering initiative in graduate education reform, designed to cultivate top-tier talent for China’s energy sector. Looking ahead, he stressed the importance of refining an “industry-integrated” model of talent development, ensuring that educational training remains closely aligned with corporate needs. By fostering synergy between academia and industry, he asserted, the program will help shape the next generation of energy professionals while strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Liu Qingyou Delivering Speech
Liu Yongjie lauded the achievements of the program’s inaugural cohort and expressed appreciation for the university’s commitment to talent development. He emphasized that as CNOOC International spearheads CNOOC’s overseas energy expansion, it requires highly skilled professionals with both technical expertise and a global perspective. The joint training model, he noted, enables an effective integration of academic research with industry practice, enhancing the calibre of oil and gas exploration specialists while also bolstering China’s technological capabilities in the sector. He expressed confidence that the program would continue to produce professionals who are “technically proficient, globally attuned, and operationally adept,” serving both CNOOC’s international ambitions and the university’s broader mission of academic excellence.
Liu Yongjie Delivering Speech
Addressing the new cohort, Zeng Ying urged students to make full use of this valuable learning opportunity. She encouraged them to build a robust foundation in oil and gas exploration, while also acquiring expertise in international business, cross-cultural communication, and regulatory frameworks. Such multidisciplinary competencies, she argued, would equip them for leadership roles in the energy sector and prepare them to shoulder greater responsibilities in the future.
Zeng Ying’s Address
The “CNOOC Global Strategy Master’s Program” represents a strategic collaboration between CDUT and CNOOC International. Designed to meet the demands of CNOOC’s overseas energy expansion, the program places a strong emphasis on professional competence, fostering a new generation of exploration, engineering, and management specialists who combine technical acumen with political awareness, linguistic proficiency, and adaptability. Between 2023 and 2024, the programme has enrolled 20 postgraduate students from disciplines such as petroleum and natural gas engineering, geological resources, geology, and geophysics. Of these, five students from the first cohort successfully graduated in June 2024 and have since joined CNOOC International.
Group photo of the CNOOC Global Strategy Master’s Program
