The annual summit of the Association of Sino-Russian Technical Universities (ASRTU) and the first Qingdao Blue Silicon Valley Sino-Russian Scientific Innovation Forum was held in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, from June 24 to 26.

The summit included celebrations at the ASRTU's headquarters in Jimo and the groundbreaking ceremony for the Harbin Institute of Technology Qingdao Science and Technology Park was held on Tuesday, June 25.

The summit comprised a series of sessions focusing on innovation, talent development and scientific cooperation between Chinese and Russian universities.

According to the Qingdao Declaration announced at the summit, the ASRTU will build a series of cooperative programs including laboratories, innovation bases and technology incubators, a Sino-Russian scientific and technological cooperation website as well as an ASRTU mini-satellite to be launched by 2020.

According to sources from the local government, the establishment of the ASRTU headquarters and the Harbin Institute of Technology Qingdao Science and Technology Park will allow Jimo to build itself into a seaside scientific urban center.

The ASRTU consists of 15 Chinese universities led by the Harbin Institute of Technology and 14 Russian universities led by the Bauman Moscow State technical University.