Dear colleagues and students, respected parents, and friends from all sectors of society,

As the seasons turn and a new year begins, I would like, on behalf of Macau Millennium College (MMC or the College), to extend my heartfelt gratitude and warmest New Year wishes to all our faculty, staff, and students, to our alumni across the world, and to the leaders, Council members, and friends from all walks of life who have long supported MMC’s development.

2025 was a year of momentum, ambition, and remarkable achievement for MMC. Grounded in dedication and driven by resolve, we moved forward with steady purpose, reaching important milestones across key areas. Each step we took has strengthened the foundations for MMC’s long-term development, opened up broader horizons, and infused the College’s future with fresh vitality and renewed drive.

We strengthened our commitment to educating students and fostering love for the motherland and Macao. We studied and put into practice the guiding principles of President Xi Jinping’s important remarks during his visit to Macao, and organised a range of activities for teachers and students, including the 2025 V-Day Military Parade, the National Security Education Exhibition, and the photo exhibition “For National Liberation and World Peace”. We also selected volunteers for the 15th National Games (NG), the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities (NGD) and the 9th National Special Olympic Games (NSOG), and held events such as a photo exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and an essay competition for Macao university students celebrating the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Through these efforts, we further strengthened our teachers’ and students’ sense of national identity and patriotism, inspired a stronger sense of purpose and responsibility, and enhanced the influence and cohesion of patriotic education on campus.

We solidified the foundations for MMC’s future development and completed a number of strategic initiatives. Our first Institutional Quality Audit was successfully completed, and the quality of our education and the effectiveness of our operations received high praise from the expert panel. Four programmes, including the Master’s and Doctoral programmes in Digital Intelligence Language Services, and the Bachelor’s and Associate Degree programmes in Smart Tourism and Entertainment Management, were accredited by the Education Quality Evaluation Agency of the Ministry of Education. The Taipa Campus officially opened, and facilities including the Multilingual Intelligent Computing Laboratory, the Digital Culture and Tourism Laboratory, and the Multimodal Smart Health Collaborative Laboratory were brought into use. The MMC Innovation Academy in Hengqin Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone was also officially approved for establishment. At the same time, MMC officially joined the Asian Universities Alliance and became a council member, took the lead in founding the Macao International Language Service Society, launched the Journal of Language Services Research and the Journal of Tourism Management Studies, and established postdoctoral research stations in areas such as Digital Intelligence Language Services and Digital Intelligence Technology.

We brought together outstanding faculty to build a strong innovation platform. In terms of faculty development, we achieved a zero-to-one breakthrough in appointing the College’s first academician-level distinguished professor, marking a new step in high-level academic leadership. Members of the College leadership and professors also took up positions in major higher education organisations, further expanding the College’s influence. Through a series of salons, seminars, training sessions, and recognition events, we have built a systematic support system for young teachers and a robust environment for the development of all staff. In research, MMC achieved major breakthroughs, from cooperation in BeiDou satellite technology to the approval of national-level research projects, significantly enhancing its academic standing. At the same time, with a focus on digital intelligence empowerment and the integration of education with industry, MMC hosted 23 high-level international and regional academic forums, including the 1st China-Malaysia Forum on High-Quality Private Higher Education and the Symposium on Higher Education Innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. These efforts helped build a diverse academic platform for forward-looking dialogue and service to society, and enabled MMC to contribute to regional development with its expertise and ideas.

We broached the College’s service scope and carried forward the spirit of the times. MMC actively fulfilled its social responsibilities by establishing Macao’s first examination centre for the Certificate for Teachers of Chinese for Cross-Cultural Communication and the TESOL International English Teacher Qualification Exam Centre for the Greater Bay Area, creating important platforms for language services. Through MMC Silver Age Academy, we introduced digital arts courses for older learners and put the idea of lifelong learning into practice. We also organised lectures on national conditions, AI science classes for secondary school students, and BeiDou knowledge competitions, and launched creative cultural activities on responsible gaming jointly developed by Shanghai and Macao. Through these efforts, the College continued to fulfil its social responsibilities in innovative ways and to promote science education, cultural inheritance, and cross-regional educational collaboration.

None of these achievements would have been possible without the dedication and wisdom of every member of the MMC community, or without the support and generosity of friends from all sectors of society in Macao. To all of you, I extend my highest respect and heartfelt thanks!

The past year has brought remarkable progress, and the new year calls us to aim still higher. As we look ahead to 2026, the solid groundwork we have laid has gathered into strong momentum, and our clear strategic direction is opening up broad new horizons. Standing at this new starting point, we are ready to move forward with greater confidence, a more open outlook, and a stronger spirit of innovation.

Let us stand together, press ahead with purpose, and write a new chapter as MMC moves forward with confidence towards excellence.

Finally, I sincerely wish you all a happy new year, and may all your hopes be realised. May our great motherland continue to prosper in strength and peace.

Professor Zhong Weihe, Rector of Macau Millennium College

31 December 2025