Chinese university may open UK facility

Imperial College London has signed a memorandum of understanding with Zhejiang University (ZJU) that could see the creation of a UK facilty for the Chinese university at White City, where Imperial’s new Imperial West campus is to be built.

The memorandum was signed on the morning of 15 May 2013 during a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Zhejiang Province. Sir Keith O’Nions, President & Rector of Imperial College London, Hao Ping, Chinese Vice Minister of Education Jin Deshui, Council Chairman of ZJU, and the Governor and Vice Governor of the Zhejiang Province signed the memorandum. The seniority of the Chinese delegation is a sign that this proposal is being taken seriously by the Chinese Government. Xinhau, the national news agency in China, published the news and Chinese television news bulletins have run stories on it.

Zhang Xiuqin, Director of the Department ofInternational Cooperation and Exchanges at China’s Education ministry, said: “China will support and help its universities to go out and internationalise”. She said that the ZJU’s London facility would be a “valuable step” towards this goal. If the second facility does go ahead, ZJU will be the first Chinese university to expand overseas.

Imperial have invited proposals from potential global partners in business, industry and academia to base themselves at the seven acre site and collaborate with Imperial. College say that the early response has been “strong”. O’Nions said: “Our ambition for collaborating with other organisations at Imperial West – and certainly with ZJU – is to achieve a level of excellence together that would not be possible apart.” He went on to say: “We look forward to working with ZJU colleagues to establish how the two institutions will benefit from the potential partnerships.”

At this stage the agreement is to discuss the new facility and is non-binding. Both Imperial and ZJU will now explore the feasibility of establishing joint academic facilities in the Imperial West facility. The two universities will also explore ways to collaborate in postgraduate education and joint research. O’Nions has hinted as to how this could be useful. He said that there are some problems that cannot be solved by one side and that this is good opportunity to work together in a two pronged approach. “For example, in the field of human health, the two universities can study the population in different regions and explore the treatment of diseases faced by human beings.”

ZJU seem to be keen on the move. An article appeared on their website praising Imperial and highlighting the reputation for international excellence that Imperial enjoys. ZJU described the opportunity as “exciting”. Jin Deshui said: “We are very pleased to be able to work together with Imperial College”. He went on to say that Imperial and ZJU will develop a mutually beneficial model, which will be sustainable and that they will carry out two-way, in-depth strategic cooperation that will help both institutions.

Imperial West is the new facility for Imperial College London. Exact details on what will be there have not yet been fully released. However, College say that the site, previously owned by the BBC, will be a £150 million research centre for up to 3000 scientists. The site faced opposition from local residents who claimed that their peace would be disturbed and their houses would be overshadowed.

ZJU currently contains around 39,000 students, and houses one of the largest library collections in China. The Times Higher Education supplement (THE) ranked it below 300 in the world, although its income from industry is very strong.