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In 2020 the University of Sussex were extremely proud to launch The Sussex Artificial Intelligence Institute, Zhejiang Gongshang University, the first of its kind in China. Celebrating the ongoing success of our partnership, our colleagues at Zhejiang Gongshang University have gifted a tree as part of the University of Sussex 60th Anniversary celebrations.

Professor Richard Follett (Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor International), Professor Ian Wakeman (Head of the School of Engineering and Informatics), Professor Romeo Glovnea (Head of the Department of Engineering and Design), Professor Maziar Nekovee (Joint Dean of the Sussex Artificial Intelligence Institute), Gemma Proudley (Head of Global Engagement) and Li Camm (Head of Global Partnerships) took part in a short ceremony with staff and students from the School of Engineering and Informatics to welcome this gift, followed by celebratory cake. 

This tree will be one of sixty that is being planted around the campus for the Sussex 60th Anniversary celebrations, and serves as a wonderful symbol of the growing and flourishing of our partnership with Zhejiang Gongshang University. The variety of the tree itself has been carefully chosen as a local native Hornbeam species, in keeping with the campus biodiversity policy, but this variety also has close relatives which are prevalent in China. The Hornbeam also has a traditional association with Engineering, as a particularly hard type of wood that has historically been used for the intricate carving of gear wheels and other technological creations.

We hope the growth and longevity of this tree will match the prosperous thriving of our partnership in creating the Sussex Artificial Intelligence Institute, and are very grateful to celebrate the University of Sussex's partnership with Zhejiang Gongshang University as part of our 60^th Anniversary. As we reflect on the development of Sussex over the last 60 years and chart a course for further development in the next 60, we are happy to welcome this tree as an important expression of our internationalism and proactive pursuit of new opportunities for the future. 

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