Ford Motor Company says that it has reached separate strategic alliances with Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Shanghai Jiaotong University and will carry out a full range cooperation with them on scientific research and talent training.

This is the first time that Ford has reportedly cooperated with universities from the Chinese mainland in upgrading their cooperation projects to a strategic level. Ford also says that it will set up a Ford Car Academic Chair at the two universities to promote the education and research of automotive-related technology and the training on relevant capacities.

Gerhard Schmidt, vice president of Research and Advanced Engineering at Ford Motor Company, says that the cooperation with these two universities will facilitate Ford's research in such fields as car weight reduction, enhanced fuel efficiency and advanced car material and manufacturing processes.

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics is well known for its great capacity in aluminum profiling and diesel motor performance improvement, while Shanghai Jiaotong University has great strength in material and mechanical engineering.