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China’s resort island province Hainan to host new campus of top Russian technical university
- The Chinese campus of the National Research University Moscow Power Engineering Institute will be situated in Hainan province’s Wenchang county
- Hainan is trying to boost its education sector by wooing prestigious foreign universities with a focus on science, technology, agriculture or medicine
Published: 9:00pm, 17 Oct, 2022
A major Russian technical university is building a 55-hectare (137-acre) campus on the tropical island of Hainan, as the Chinese free-trade zone opens its door to foreign institutions.
The Chinese campus of the National Research University Moscow Power Engineering Institute (MPEI) will be located in Hainan’s Wenchang county, a coastal tourist spot and home to a space station, according to a statement by the campus designer China Academy of Building Research (CABR) last week.
Hainan Daily, a local newspaper, reported in March that the province had struck an agreement with MPEI to set up a local campus.
The move comes amid Hainan’s push to boost its education sector by luring prestigious foreign universities with a focus on science, technology, agriculture or medicine, as well as vocational schools, to set up operations in the free-trade port.
The provincial education department is currently pursuing similar deals with Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences in Germany and École hôtelière de Lausanne, a hospitality management school in Switzerland.
Hainan’s attempt to woo overseas institutions, as part of its free-trade arrangement, stands as an exception in China, where most local governments are trying to reduce foreign influence in the education sector.
MPEI’s Hainan campus also signals the deepening bond between Russia and China amid rising tensions with the US.
Founded in 1930, MPEI is known for its power engineering research. One of its alumni was the late former Chinese Premier Li Peng, who was sent to study at the university from 1948 to 1955 during the Soviet era.
Li, who is called “the most famous graduate of MPEI” on the university’s website, served as president of the foreign student union during his years on campus. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1995.
Last year, MPEI received approval from China’s Ministry of Education to set up a joint school with Henan University of Science and Technology in Luoyang city in western Henan province.
CABR’s architecture design arm, which won the bid for MPEI’s Hainan project, said it aims to present a campus design that combines the tropical ecosystem of the island and the rational temperament of the Russian university.
It did not say when the construction work would take place.
Wenchang, home to China’s fourth and southernmost spaceport, is also planning to partner with Chinese aerospace universities – including Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, capital of Shaanxi province, and the Harbin Institute of Technology – to establish graduate schools and training bases.
The county said it has also begun talks with overseas institutes such as Ukraine’s National Aviation University to cultivate talent.
China is under growing pressure to shore up its technological competitiveness as the US ratchets up export restrictions against Chinese institutions.
Earlier this month, the Bureau of Industry and Security, an agency under the US Department of Commerce, announced new measures targeting China’s advanced semiconductor industry, including restrictions prohibiting “US persons” from supporting the development or production of chips at certain Chinese firms.
Some Chinese universities, including the Harbin Institute of Technology, have already been previously added to a US trade blacklist, formally known as the Entity List, for “supporting procurement of items for military end-use in China”.
Top Russian university builds campus on Chinese resort island
Hainan province is trying to boost its education sector by wooing prestigious foreign universities with a focus on science, technology, agriculture or medicine.
www.scmp.com