On the morning of 9 May, the opening ceremony of the 2025 BYD-ECUST Games and the 39th Sports Festival commenced with great pomp at the main gymnasium of the Fengxian Campus.
At the opening ceremony, ECUST held a ceremony to welcome the national flag from Tiananmen Square. This event intertwines national flag culture with campus narratives, perpetuating national memory and the spirit of the nation while fostering patriotic sentiment and a sense of mission among staff and pupils.
The national flag is the symbol and emblem of the nation, representing its authority and dignity. On 13th December 2024, the day following the successful conclusion of the university's 12th Party Congress, ECUST received a national flag that had been raised at Tiananmen Square on its 72nd anniversary (25th October 2024). Chuanhai JIANG, Secretary of the University Party Committee, emphasised that this marked a significant event in the university's history, representing both an honour and a responsibility for its current students, staff, and alumni. This national flag will be permanently preserved in the University History Museum as a vital vehicle for patriotic education.
President Fuzhen XUAN emphasised that the university places great importance on the physical wellbeing of its staff and students, as well as the development of campus sports culture. Table tennis, dragon boat racing, and perform dragon dance and lion dance have become signature features of ECUST sporting activities, while exercising at the sports grounds has become an indispensable part of campus life for both staff and students. The university will continue to deepen collaborative sports partnerships with local institutions and enterprises, while progressively upgrading and refining sports venues and facilities to create favourable conditions and foster an atmosphere conducive to physical exercise for all members of the university community.
Lu Lin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Shanghai Administration of Sports, noted that ECUST has engaged in extensive and in-depth collaboration with the Shanghai Administration of Sports and district sports authorities across the city. This cooperation spans the cultivation of reserve sporting talent, the hosting of sporting events, industrial research partnerships, and cultural exchanges within the sporting sphere. The university's table tennis team has consistently achieved outstanding results in domestic and international competitions, continuously supplying the nation with exceptional high-level athletes. This demonstrates the fighting spirit and remarkable talents of ECUST students, adding lustre to Shanghai's sporting endeavours.
Olympic Track Bicycle champion Tianshi ZHONG at the opening ceremony venue.
Following the opening ceremony, the innovative signature event of this year's Sports Festival, the ‘Vitality Campus Sports Fair’, commenced in the gymnasium. Centred on the ‘Sports Plus’ multi-disciplinary integration model, the fair established an interactive platform integrating cultural displays, talent showcases, and educational practices. This yea, the festival also featured diverse cultural exchange and ional activities, including a signing ceremony for university-enterprise collaborative initiatives, the annual Sports Academic Forum, an exhibition of sports photography and videography works, and the Campus Health Ambassador Awards and other multicultural exchange and ion activities.
On the afternoon of the opening ceremony, the student fun sports day was cheerfully held at the athletics field of the Fengxian Campus. Over a hundred students from 13 schools collaborated and competed in six events, vying for intellectual prowess to win honour for their teams and schools.
Meanwhile, the campus table tennis ranking tournament commenced with fierce competition. Students immersed themselves in the joy of Huali's table tennis culture through sweat and sport.
On the evening of the opening ceremony, the campus fitness and bodybuilding competition took place at the Fengxian Campus. Over 120 contestants from various schools took to the stage, showcasing their healthy physiques and radiant personas. This visual feast, blending beauty with strength, drew more than a hundred staff and students to witness the spectacle and admire the youthful vigour on display.
The Sports Festival dragon boat races and student athletics meet commenced simultaneously at the Fengxian Campus. A series of weekly and monthly competitions also held in succession. With its diverse events and vibrant atmosphere, the Sports Festival has become a platform for ECUST faculty and students to learn from one another, hone their skills, and grow together.