From November 1 to 4, the 16th National Conference on Tribology and the National Youth Academic Conference on Tribology were held in Chengdu, highlighting the theme of “Tribology and New Quality Productive Forces”. The conference was sponsored by the Tribology Institution of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society (CMES), hosted by Southwest Jiaotong University, and co-organized by 26 institutions including Tsinghua University. Thirty-two high-tech enterprises and publishers from five academic journals participated in the exhibition. The conference attracted more than 1,800 participants from universities, research institutes, and enterprises across the nation. Professor Yang Dan, Vice-Chairperson of Sichuan Provincial Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), delivered a speech at the opening ceremony, while Professor Yan Xuedong, President of SWJTU, gave a welcoming address on behalf of the hosting institution. The opening ceremony was chaired by Professor Zhou Zhongrong, Vice President of SWJTU.

Professor Yang noted in his speech that the conference serves as a high-level platform and a major academic gathering for accelerating the transformation of innovative achievements. It is also a progressive response to the call for “developing new quality productive forces in line with local conditions” and promotes the deep “four chain” integration of innovation chain, industry chain, capital chain and talent chain in advancing “Made in China” initiatives. Professor Yang hoped that the conference would foster diverse, high-level cooperation and contribute to high-quality development, new progress in the governance of Sichuan, and China Western Development in the new era.

On behalf of the university, President Yan welcomed the guests of honour, experts, and scholars in attendance, and expressed his gratitude to the officers, academicians, and scholars who have long supported SWJTU. Professor Yan stated that the university has been committing to the development of “Four Orientations”, making significant strides in areas such as fretting, railway tribology, micro/nanotribology, atomic level manufacturing, biotribology, and bionic manufacturing. Professor Yan expressed his wish that the experts and scholars present would deepen exchanges, enhance cooperation, and explore the cutting-edge of tribology. At the end of his speech, he called for the integration of academic achievements with practical applications to meet national needs and unswerving efforts in forging new quality productive forces.

Academician Xue Qunji, Researcher Lu Daming, Professor Zhang Siwei, Academician Xie Youbai, Researcher Lu Xinchun, and others delivered speeches and encouraged the attendees to share their experiences and insights to further tribology innovations. The opening ceremony also featured the launch of the “Graduate Video Course in Tribology”, a two-year collaborative project organized by China Tribology Institution, with classroom instructions from over 20 experts.

Professor Zhou mentioned that through the perseverance of generations of tribology educators and researchers, China has become a key player in the global tribology community. He urged all participants to continue the pursuit of innovation.

The conference offered to its participants 762 speeches and 123 poster presentations. The plenary conference of tribology, chaired by Academicians Liu Weimin and Yan Xinping, presented keynote speeches from 11 experts including Academician Luo Jianbin of Tsinghua University. Professor Zhou delivered a keynote speech entitled “Research on Super Braking of High-Speed Trains Based on Friction Tuning”, while Professor Ouyang Huajiang delivered one on “Friction-Induced Vibration/Noise: Mechanisms and Applications”. During the conference, Professor Qian Linmao, Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering SWJTU, on behalf of the organizing committee, organized the evaluation of poster and oral presentations, with awards presented to outstanding contributors.