Source: SYSU News Center
Written by: Sun Tianyu
Photo by: Huang Aicheng
Proofread by: Ian Heuer
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the morning of May 28, 2016, Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) and Guangming New District in Shenzhen City signed three agreements on the construction of a middle school, primary school, and kindergarten to be attached to SYSU’s Shenzhen Campus; the construction of municipal supporting facilities around Shenzhen Campus; and the construction of affordable apartments for academic talents on Shenzhen Campus.

Prof. Luo Jun, President of SYSU; Cheng Huanwen, Yang Qinghua, Chen Wangnan and Luo Teng, Assistant Presidents of SYSU; Zhang Hengchun, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Guangming New District; Kuang Bing, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Administration Commission of Guangming New District; Wang Hao, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Vice Director of the Administration Commission; Xu Songming, Member of the Party Working Committee and Vice Director of the Administration Commission; and Zhou Ziyou, Member of the Party Working Committee and Director of the General Office of Administration Commission, attended the signing ceremony.

At the signing ceremony, Secretary Zhang Hengchun delivered the opening remarks. He said that Shenzhen needs high quality higher education and medical and health care resources, and needs SYSU to provide a better environment for academic talents to flourish. At the same time, SYSU needs Shenzhen’s electronics and information industry to promote the development of its engineering disciplines. This is a consensus of mutual cooperation. He stated that Guangming New District would implement the agreements and push forward the construction of SYSU Shenzhen Campus.

President Luo Jun delivered a speech, saying that the signing ceremony marked the beginning of the concrete construction of SYSU Shenzhen Campus, which was significant for Shenzhen, Guangming New District, SYSU, and even higher education in China. He mentioned that the leaders in Shenzhen and Guangming New District as well as the faculty at SYSU had put tremendous effort into the formulation of the cooperation plans. He explained the importance of the three agreements, focusing on the construction of affordable apartments for academics and the attached middle school, primary school, and kindergarten as crucial for high-end talent introduction, and the surrounding municipal supporting facilities as basic conditions for campus construction.

President Luo Jun stressed that SYSU will build Shenzhen Campus according to the standards of world-class universities and help Shenzhen to build a modern international innovative city. He remarked that in the foreseeable future, Shenzhen, especially Guangming New District, would become more attractive with SYSU’s Shenzhen Campus, SYSU would consolidate its academic status because of Shenzhen Campus, and the local people would witness the change of the landscape and benefit from the convenient access to education and health care resources. He believed that with the support from the country, the province, and the city, and with the joint efforts of SYSU and Guangming New District, SYSU Shenzhen Campus would enjoy a bright future in its development.

President Luo Jun introduced that, according to the disciplinary arrangements of a comprehensive university and considering Shenzhen’s economic and social development needs and its strategic need for innovation driven development, SYSU Shenzhen Campus will establish four disciplinary clusters, namely medical sciences (Clinical Medicine, Basic Medicine, Public Health, Pharmaceutical Sciences), engineering (Biomedical Engineering, Intelligent Manufacturing and Control, Electronics and Information Engineering, Materials Science, Energy and Power Engineering, Aeronautical and Astronautical Science, Environmental Science and Engineering, Architecture and civil Engineering, Marine Engineering and Technology), natural sciences (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Life Sciences), and humanities and social sciences (Chinese, History, Philosophy, Business).

Afterwards, President Luo Jun and Director Kuang Bing signed the agreements on behalf of Sun Yat-sen University and Guangming New District respectively.