Zhongce and Academician Zhang Liqun Sign Academician Workstation Agreement
Date：2026/8/14
On August 8, 2026, the “Signing Ceremony for the Academician Zhang Liqun Workstation Project and Forum on Trends and Technological Frontiers in the Tire Industry” was grandly held at the headquarters of Zhongce Rubber Group. At the event, witnessed by representatives from government agencies, universities, research teams, and automotive manufacturers, the cooperation agreement for the Academician Workstation project was formally signed.
Zhongce Rubber ranks among the top ten tire manufacturers globally and is the leading tire manufacturer in China, with sales revenue reaching 44.956 billion yuan in 2025. The other party to this collaboration—Zhang Liqun, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Xi’an Jiaotong University—has long been deeply involved in the fields of materials science and polymer engineering.
The partnership between the two parties dates back more than a decade. Since 2022, Zhongce Rubber’s Academician Expert Workstation has invested a cumulative total of over 50 million yuan in R&D funding and carried out 22 joint research projects, yielding a number of representative achievements in areas such as new energy vehicle tires, recycling and regeneration, specialty materials, and green new materials. This signing marks an upgrade in the partnership from long-term “collaboration” to a future-oriented “deep integration.”
Under the agreement, the two parties will leverage the basic research capabilities and original technology reserves of the academician team, while integrating them with Zhongce Rubber’s industrialization platform, smart manufacturing system, and global market network. Together, they will establish a complete innovation cycle encompassing “basic research—technological breakthroughs—pilot-scale testing and scaling up—industrial implementation—market application,” with a focus on tackling key areas such as green bio-based rubber and new materials for high-performance tires.
The workstation will implement the industry-academia-research innovation model of “industry posing the problem, research solving it, and enterprises applying the solution,” thereby bridging the entire chain from basic research to industrialization. At the same time, it will deepen the joint talent development model to cultivate multidisciplinary professionals for the industry in both directions.
Shen Jinrong, Chairman of Zhongce Rubber Group, stated that the company will spare no effort to ensure the efficient operation of the Academician Workstation, foster more original achievements, accelerate the industrial application of cutting-edge technologies, and inject new momentum into the high-quality development of China’s rubber industry. Academician Zhang Liqun noted that this collaboration, coinciding with the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, holds significant importance for driving the tire industry’s upgrade toward high-end, intelligent, and green development.
Representatives from the Hangzhou Association for Science and Technology, the Qiantang New Area Administrative Committee, Leapmotor, and other relevant organizations attended the event.
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