Leaders and guests together unveil the nameplate of Shenzhen Polytechnic-C-MER Optometry College.

President Xu Jianling of Shenzhen Polytechnic and Executive President Li Xiaoting of C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited sign the strategic agreement on behalf of both sides.

On the afternoon of October 12, Shenzhen Polytechnic formally signed the strategic cooperation agreement withC-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited to jointly establish the "Shenzhen Polytechnic-C-MER Optometry College", and the Teenager Myopia Prevention and Control Institute of Greater Bay Area was established at the same time. Both sides will jointly promote the deep integration of enterprises, universities and research institutes, cultivate interdisciplinary innovative talents of optometric technology for the Greater Bay Area, and strive to promote China's optometry industry to the world-class level.

President Xu Jianling and Executive President Li Xiaoting of C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited signed the strategic agreement on behalf of both sides. Chan Yaodong, vice secretary general of Shenzhen Municipal People's Government and First-level Inspector, Yang Xinbin, secretary of the Party Committee of Shenzhen Polytechnic and Lin Shunchao, president of C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited witnessed the signing of the agreement. Xu Jianling issued letters of appointment to the first Dean and Deputy Dean of Shenzhen Polytechnic-C-MER Optometry College.

Cooperate to Create a Model Distinctive Industry College

It is learned that the two sides have a long basis for cooperation. Since 2014, Shenzhen Polytechnic and C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited have co-constructed the internship base. Relying on advantages of clinical service, management mode, teaching training, and innovative scientific research, C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited has provided development opportunities of internship and employment for students specializing in optometric technology in Shenzhen Polytechnic. After more than seven years of practice, the school-enterprise cooperation has achieved significant results.

As one of the earliest independent higher vocational and technical education institutions in China, Shenzhen Polytechnic has cultivated talents of optometric technology for 17 years, showing a relatively complete training system and optometry industry ecosystem. Yang Xinbin said that the two sides will work together to develop international courses, build the teaching team, enroll students, and "go global", aiming to build the Shenzhen Polytechnic-C-MER Optometry College into a model distinctive industry college with functions of optometry education, technology R&D and application of vision science and eye health social service in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and continuously contribute to the optometry industry in Greater Bay Area and even in the rest of China.

Supplement the Demand for Optometric Talents of 300,000 by Industry-University Cooperation

At present, myopia prevention and control has been heightened to a state-level strategy, especially under the situation that myopia of teenagers shows the trend of a younger age and severe myopia is more serious than before. According to theWhite Paper on Eye Health in China issued by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, the overall myopia rate of children and adolescents in 2018 was 53.6%. In contrast, there is a serious shortage of qualified optometrist in China, with an estimated gap of 300,000.

Lin Shunchao said that from the needs of national strategies such as "healthy China" and "myopia prevention and control", there is still great space for improvement of the optometric medicine in fields like faculty construction, professional development, talent cultivation, and industry-university-research institutes transformation. He believed that the establishment of the Shenzhen Polytechnic-C-MER Optometry College in cooperation with Shenzhen Polytechnic is an opportunity with the right time, the right place, and the right people. He hoped that the two sides can work together strongly to achieve the huge effect of "1+1=11".

Hold the First Seminar on Myopia Prevention and Control in Greater Bay Area with Innovation-led Development

On the afternoon of October 12, the "Teenager Myopia Prevention and Control Institute of Greater Bay Area" was established at the same time, and Prof. Lin Shunchao issued letters of appointment to lecturers of the first myopia prevention and control lecturer group. In the future, the two sides will focus on teenager myopia prevention and control projects, jointly carry out the special topic of "teenager myopia prevention and control", and conduct science popularization and projects in campus and society through establishing domestic and foreign exchange platforms. In addition, regular myopia prevention and control summit forums will be held to promote industry exchanges and improve the awareness of myopia prevention and control in the society.

At the same time, the significant "First Seminar on Optometry and Myopia Prevention and Control in Greater Bay Area" was also opened in Shenzhen Polytechnic. Prof. Lyu Fan from Wenzhou Medical University, President Zhang Shaochong from Shenzhen Eye Hospital, Prof. Zeng Junwen and Prof. Lin Xiaoming from Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, and experts and scholars from C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited and Shenzhen Polytechnic gathered together to discuss the development of myopia prevention and control and optometry industry, which received extensive attention of the industry.

(School of Medical Technology and Nursing)