University of Liverpool Vice Chancellor’s 2025 New Year greeting

Dear President Xi, XJTLU staff and students,

On behalf of myself and all staff and students at the University of Liverpool, I would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and successful New Year.

We at Liverpool are incredibly proud of all members of the XJTLU community and your important contributions to research, education and the wider world. As the Year of the Dragon draws to a close, I hope you have the opportunity to reflect on your many personal and academic successes. I also trust that the Year of the Snake will bring you wisdom, creativity and good fortune and, for those of you graduating, a successful transition to further study or your desired career. When the time comes, we will be proud welcome you as new members of our alumni community of over 270,000.

XJTLU and the University of Liverpool have achieved a great deal together over the last year, working closely to further enhance opportunities for our students, for research collaborations and more. We are always delighted to welcome colleagues from XJTLU to our campus and I am also grateful for the warm welcome Liverpool colleagues receive on their visits to you. To take just one example, I know our Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost, Professor Richard Black, thoroughly enjoyed his visit in September and was particularly impressed by your fantastic Opening Ceremony. I look forward to building on our successes over the coming year – and to planning some fantastic celebrations in preparation for marking XJTLU’s 20-year anniversary in 2026!

Of course, some XJTLU students will be spending their Spring Festival and New Year celebrations here with us in Liverpool and they have plenty to look forward to. We are excited about our on campus New Year gala with traditional dragon dance, martial arts demonstrations, music and theatre and also about the spectacular City Centre celebrations, with parades, live performances, street theatre, storytelling and much more. Equally, I know Liverpool students on their Year in China are really looking forward to experiencing New Year with you – a memory that I am sure they will treasure forever and just one of the many additional benefits they experience as a result of taking up an international study opportunity.

Whatever your plans for the festivities, I hope you have a wonderful time. My best wishes once more to you all for the Year of the Snake.

Professor Tim Jones
Vice Chancellor, University of Liverpool