In order to further strengthen the scientific, technological and cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Indonesia, and deeply implement the "Eight Actions for China to Support High-quality Joint Construction of the Belt and Road Initiative" announced by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, on November 6, 2023, the signing ceremony of "MOU on Cooperation between GEM-Bandung Institute of Technology (hereinafter referred to as the "ITB")-Central South University (hereinafter referred to as the "CSU") to jointly build the ‘China-Indonesia Joint Research Laboratory for New Energy Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Technology’ and ‘GEM-ITB Scholarship Donation Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the "Scholarship Donation Agreement")’” was held grandly at the ITB in Indonesia. Prof. Reini Wirahadikusumah, Ph.D., President of ITB, and Prof. Xu Kaihua, Board Chairman of GEM, attended the ceremony and witnessed the signing. Professor Guo Xueyi, Vice President of CSU, attended and witnessed the meeting online.

The ITB is Indonesia's top engineering university, CSU is a world-class university of mining and metallurgical engineering and new energy materials, and GEM is a world-class circular economy and metallurgical technology enterprise. The three parties signed the MOU for the "Joint Construction of the China-Indonesia New Energy Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Technology Joint Research Laboratory". This is the first joint laboratory developed by Chinese university, Chinese enterprise and Indonesian university together, and will create a new history for China-Indonesia scientific and technological cooperation. The establishment of the joint laboratory follows the rapid development of cooperation between China and Indonesia. On October 18, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced "Eight actions for China to support high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road" at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing, clearly proposing to promote scientific and technological innovation and continue to implement the "Belt and Road" action plan, and supports the construction of joint research laboratories along the Belt and Road Initiative and will expand the number of joint laboratories built with all parties to 100 in the next five years.

GEM invite ITB and CSU to jointly build the China-Indonesia Research Laboratory for New Energy Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Technology (hereinafter referred to as the "Joint Laboratory") and donated scholarships to ITB, is its active measure of implementation Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed “Eight actions for China to support high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road”. According to the tripartite agreement, the construction of the joint laboratory is for the purpose of promoting China-Indonesia scientific and technological cultural exchanges and cooperation and creating a demonstration model of cooperation between China and Indonesia. It stands to promote the sustainable green development of the world, promote the recovery of the world economy, and serve the electrification of Indonesia. From the perspective of strategy and benefiting the Indonesian people, the three parties will combine technology, talent and industrial strength to jointly build a world-class joint research laboratory for new energy materials and metallurgical engineering technology, carry out innovative research in the fields of key mineral resource development, new energy materials, resource recycling, green technology, ESG and sustainable development, and provide key technical support for Indonesia's new energy and electrification strategy, and high-quality development of Indonesia's mining industry, and becoming a national level laboratory for Indonesia and China's Belt and Road Initiative to achieve the global values of the three parties in the fields of culture, technology, industrial application, ESG and sustainable development, hence, contribute to building a global community with a shared future for mankind. The three cooperating parties stated that based on this joint laboratory, they will effectively promote the rapid development of the China-Indonesia joint master's program in metallurgical technology and new energy materials engineering which is led by them, and become an important platform for the China-Indonesia “Hundreds and Tens of Thousands” Talent Training Program (i.e., “Hundreds of Engineering Doctorates, Thousands of Engineering Masters, and Ten Thousands of Engineering and Technical Talents”) initiated.

This GEM-ITB scholarship agreement is also the first scholarship program established by a Chinese company in an Indonesian university. According to the scholarship donation agreement, GEM will donate a total of RMB 10 million to Bandung Institute of Technology (RMB 1 million per year for 10 consecutive years) to support outstanding students from Bandung Institute of Technology to study in China and poor students to complete their studies, etc. Indonesia's economic and social development cultivates more outstanding high-end technical talents to provide talent support for Indonesia's technological innovation and development. This scholarship program demonstrates that Chinese private enterprises actively implement the Belt and Road Initiative to promote scientific and cultural exchanges and actively play their corporate role in Indonesia.

At the signing ceremony, Prof. Reini Wirahadikusumah, Ph.D., the president of ITB, delivered a speech. She said, Indonesia is a country rich in mining resources, which are enough to support Indonesia’s future development. However, Indonesia suffers from a lack of engineering technology and talents, which restricts the development of mining and metallurgical resources. Today, as our most reliable partner, GEM has come here to set up scholarship, and joined China's leading university, CSU, to ITB to build a China-Indonesia joint research laboratory for new energy materials and metallurgical engineering technology, which will greatly promote the development of ITB. Prof. Reini Wirahadikusumah, Ph.D, believes that future students will benefit from the efforts of the three parties today. The continued support of partners such as GEM is a valuable asset to them. ITB is committed to sustainable development, and ITB thanks its partners.

Professor Xu Kaihua, Board Chairman of GEM, delivered a speech at the signing ceremony. Chairman Xu Kaihua said that GEM will go all out to complete the construction goals at the speed of high-speed train. It is necessary to develop this joint laboratory into an Indonesian national laboratory and a Chinese national level laboratory in the “Belt and Road Initiative”, create a new history of Indonesian scientific and technological innovation, and become a highlight project and demonstration model of China-Indonesia scientific and technological cooperation. At the same time, Chairman Xu Kaihua thanked the Indonesian government, Indonesian people and his alma mater, CSU, for their support over the past many years, which has promoted GEM’s investment and development in Indonesia to be very successful.

Chairman Xu Kaihua said that since 2019, GEM has gone overseas, with the investment philosophy of "Integrated investment in industry, technology and culture, and grow together with Indonesia", and invested more than 1 billion US dollars in Indonesia to build a "technology + intelligent+ green" high-tech nickel Resource Industrial Park, the project operation has reached the world's advanced level, helping Indonesia realize the industrial upgrading of new energy raw materials directly produced from laterite nickel ore, boosting the development process of Indonesia's new energy, and shortening Indonesia's development time in the field of new energy industry materials by at least 10 years , providing 3,000 local jobs; established the first world-class Laterite Nickel Ore Hydrometallurgy and New Energy Materials Engineering Technology Research Center to help Indonesia's metallurgical engineering and new energy materials innovation technology reach the world's advanced level. GEM has built the first world-class nickel industry museum in Indonesia, successfully launched three sessions of "GEM-Indonesian Government-Central South University Joint International Metallurgical Engineering Master Training Program”, released the three “thousand metallurgical engineers and new energy materials technology talent cultivation (1,000 engineering masters/Ph.D., 1,000 craftsmen, 1,000 management staff)” plans in Indonesia. and set up a Chinese language training camp for the joint master program students and GEM's Indonesian youth key personnels, to accelerate cultivation and localization of Indonesian senior talents, which is also contributed a lot to promoting scientific and technological cultural exchanges between China and Indonesia, and has become one of the highlight demonstration projects of friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and Indonesia, attracting world attention.

Professor Guo Xueyi, Vice President of CSU, delivered a speech at the signing ceremony. He said that under the guidance of the “The Belt and Road” strategy, China-Indonesia relations have achieved rapid development and brought tangible benefits to the people of both countries. This has brought unprecedented importance, urgency and new requirements to the collaborative innovation of universities, scientific research institutions and technology enterprises in both countries. CSU, ITB, and GEM signed a contract to jointly build the "China-Indonesia Joint Research Laboratory for New Energy Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Technology", which is a collaborative innovation entity born under this background. The three parties will use the joint laboratory as a platform to promote scientific and cultural exchanges and create a demonstration cooperation between China and Indonesia. Further, the three parties will combine technology, talent and industrial strength to create a world-class new energy and metallurgical engineering technology research laboratory, provide more powerful support for cultivating innovative talents through high-level scientific and technological research and development projects and superior experimental conditions, and continuously improve talent training quality. He believes that the construction of the joint laboratory will play an increasingly important role in promoting technological progress and industrial upgrading in related fields, while serving the country's major needs and achieving mutual benefit and win-win results among the three parties. He hoped that CSU, ITB and GEM would use the stable cooperation platform of the joint laboratory to jointly promote the training of senior talents with master's degrees and doctoral degrees in engineering in the fields of metallurgical technology and new energy materials in China and Indonesia, and implement the implementation of the China-Indonesia Joint Talent Training Project of "Hundreds of Engineering Doctors", "Thousands of Engineering Masters" and "Ten Thousands of Engineering and Technical Talents" initiated by GEM, CSU and ITB. The three parties will use the common vision, common persistence and common responsibility to create first-class scientific research results, to cultivate first-class scientific research talents, and to realize the global value of the three parties in the fields of culture, technology, industrial application, ESG and sustainable development, and to make our due contribution to the global community with a shared future for mankind.

Facing the future, GEM will focus on expanding the scale of nickel resource projects in Indonesia and developing high-tech real economies such as ternary precursor high-tech materials, continue to actively implement the "Eight Actions", and continue to promote the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" between China and Indonesia, writing a new chapter for China-Indonesia scientific and technological cultural exchanges, making positive contributions to promoting the construction of a China-Indonesia community with a shared future and a community with a shared future for mankind in the new era, and jointly assisting the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” to realize the beautiful vision of the next golden decade.

The Vice President of Bandung Institute of Technology Prof. Dr.-Ing. Widjaja Martokusumo, Dean of Graduate School Prof. Dr. Suprijadi, Dean of School of Metallurgical Engineering Prof. Dr. Mohammad Zaki Mubarok, Mining and Petroleum Prof. Ir. Ridho Kresna Wattimena, Dean of the School of Engineering, and others attended the signing ceremony.

Song Wei, deputy general manager of GEM, and Xu Pengyun, assistant to the general manager of GEM, attended the signing event.

At the Signing Ceremony

Professor Xu Kaihua, Board Chairman of GEM, and Prof. Reini Wirahadikusumah, Ph.D, Dean of Bandung Institute of Technology signed the MOU on Cooperation between GEM-Bandung

Institute of Technology-Central South University to jointly build the “China-Indonesia Joint Research Laboratory for New Energy Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Technology”

GEM and Bandung Institute of Technology signed the "GEM-Bandung Institute of Technology Scholarship Donation Agreement"

Group photo of guests signing contracts from the three parties