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"London South China University ‧ Haikou" Trilateral Agreement

Haikou, 8 August, 2013

Two world class universities, South China University of Technology and University of London, together with Mission Hills, came together today to sign the trilateral cooperation agreement to establish a new high-calibre, practice-oriented, internationalized, degree-granting Chinese-foreign university in Haikou.

At a trilateral cooperation agreement signing ceremony in Haikou, President of South China University of Technology, Prof. Wang Yingjun; Vice Chancellor of University of London, Sir Adrian Smith; and Chairman and CEO of Mission Hills Group, Dr. Ken Chu announced the "London South China University ‧ Haikou" (LSCU) which will be built at Mission Hills' highly acclaimed resort in Haikou. This cooperation will see one of national key university working alongside University of London to deliver a range of undergraduate degrees.

Top students from China and around the region will compete for entrance into the LSCU. It will become known as the leading foreign university operating in China, by not simply transplanting the existing Western universities' model to China, but rather using this blank slate as a unique opportunity to create a new model of global higher education. We will deliver a combination of opportunity, excellence, and access for students. It will excel in three areas:

• Integrating the best of Western and Chinese culture, history, and educational practices to create a new model in global education;
• Educating the next generation of future global citizens and leaders, prepared with the vision, values, capabilities, and cross-cultural understanding needed to tackle the most pressing problems facing our planet in the 21st Century;
• Preparing graduates who are fluent in English and Mandarin.

By 2025, the Cooperative University (CU) will be recognised as one of the universities offering the highest quality and most innovative undergraduate education in China.

In kicking off the first operational phase, London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE), which is a College of University of London, will be the lead college and provide academic direction for a suite of degrees in Economics, Management, Finance and Social Science to be offered. The relevant departments of LSE are responsible for the design and content of these programmes and also for all aspects of student assessment, ensuring that the academic standards that prevail are the same as those which apply to the School's internal programmes.

The construction of this USD 100 Million project will begin upon formal approval from Ministry of Education. The campus size of LSCU is planned to reach 1,000 mu, and total construction area will be around 150,000 square metres on a site at Mission Hills ‧ Haikou. LSCU will recruit 8,000 to its full capacity, that the first intake will take place in 2015-2016 academic year: the number of total registered student will reach 5,000 at the end of Phase One, while the number of total registered student will eventually reach 8,000 at the end of Phase Two. 55% of LSCU students will be recruited through Gaokao system, while the other 45% will be international students. CU will award certificate of study and bachelor degrees to all its students who have completed their respective credit courses and meet the requirement on graduation. UOL will also award a UOL's bachelor degree to those students who are registered with UOL and have met the standard requirements of UOL. LSCU's key academics will be from SCUT and UOL, and it will recruit talents globally.

Chairman and CEO of Mission Hills, Dr. Ken Chu said, "My father has given myself and my siblings the wonderful opportunity to study abroad; however, not all Chinese nationals may have the opportunity or financial capability to study abroad. We want to bring together the best of Western university education with the best of Chinese university education, and create a new unique opportunity for the next generations to receive both a Western and Chinese education here in China. Mission Hills has long been an enthusiastic supporter of education, and has been actively engaged in educational philanthropy and community activities, and the establishment of this LSCU will form a significant part of this vision."