Bosses say that the new campus will offer a high calibre, international higher education experience with the opportunity to study in China and the UK. It is hoped that enrolments at the new campus will add to XJTLU’s target of teaching 24,000 students by 2028.

“The great number of German businesses in Taicang provides a favourable environment”

Currently, there are 12,000 students and 1,000 staff from more than 50 different countries at XJTLU’s existing campus in Suzhou. Both Suzhou and Taicang border the hub city Shanghai.

University of Liverpool’s vice-chancellor, Janet Beer said that she hopes that the new campus will establish itself in the same way that Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou has done since opening in 2006.

“The new campus will forge innovative, dynamic relationships between the university, local companies and society, providing highly-skilled international graduates and contributing to the knowledge economy,” Beer said.

Youmin Xi, executive president and pro vice-chancellor of XJTLU, said that the campus is a part of a larger aim.

“The new Taicang Campus meets our ambitious mission to develop the ‘University of the Future’, establishing a new relationship between the university and companies, industries, and the wider community.”

He added that the new campus will be for ‘Syntegrative Education’, which involves close cooperation with industry where students gain experience within different companies.

“Because the Taicang campus focuses on developing industry elites, the location needed to be near established industries and industrial resources,” he said. “The great number of German businesses and joint ventures in Taicang provides a favourable environment for our experiment.”