On 23 May, Professor Fang Binxing, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a leading expert in cybersecurity, was appointed as the first Distinguished Chair Professor at Macau Millennium College (“MMC”).

Rector Zhong Weihe of MMC delivered a speech, introducing Academician Fang as a leading figure in the national information security sector. He has served as the President of the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Director and Chief Engineer of the National Computer Network and Information Security Management Centre, and participated in formulation of national science and technology policies as a delegate to the 11th National People’s Congress. Academician Fang led the design of China’s national “Great Firewall” system and proposed the core concept of the national network infrastructure, which has had a profound impact in fields such as information security, data security, and digital sovereignty governance, helping China’s information security system evolve from “usable” to “trusted”.

In recent years, Academician Fang’s team has engaged in deep collaboration with the research teams at MMC, jointly tackling frontier topics such as “China’s Domain Name Root”, “Digital Identity Authentication,” and “Cross-border Data Security Management Pilots”, significantly expanding the college’s research dimensions and international perspectives in cybersecurity and data security. Rector Zhong Weihe emphasised that Academician Fang is not only a pillar of China’s engineering and technological community but also a guide in MMC’s academic endeavours, and that MMC will, based on its “Digital+” features and fully leveraging Macao’s unique advantages, advance research in cybersecurity and cross-border data management, serving both economic and social development of Macao and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Academician Fang noted that Macao, as an important node in the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”, serves as a vital bridge connecting the Chinese mainland with international markets, and has great potential in the field of “Digital Intelligence + Security”. He expressed the hope for working closely with MMC’s team to promote cybersecurity research innovation, combining the mainland’s technological strength with Macao’s international perspective, and helping Macao build a research system with international competitiveness in the field of cybersecurity.

In the future, MMC will rely on Academician Fang’s academic leadership to strengthen strategic collaboration with high-end research teams at home and abroad, with a focus on digital security, cross-border data governance, and international technological collaboration, and build a new type of research cooperation platform.

Before the appointment ceremony, Academician Fang visited MMC’s industry-research base and the upcoming new campus in Taipa.