Jiangsu a hub for global university R&D centers

Lou Qinjian, Party chief of Jiangsu, said at a media open day for the Jiangsu delegation to the 13th National People's Congress March 6 that the province has become a magnet for many world-renowned universities to set up local research and development (R&D) centers.

The Oxford Suzhou Center for Advanced Research, the first overseas legal entity for the British university in its over 800-year history, was unveiled in Suzhou Nov 22, 2018. It is dedicated to multidisciplinary research, innovation and technology.

On Nov 5, Jiangbei New Area in the provincial capital Nanjing hosted the launch of a Cambridge University science and technology innovation center, the first and only one of its kind in China directly named after that celebrated institution.

Other foreign universities such as Stanford, the University of California at Los Angeles, Imperial College London, the National University of Singapore, the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Australian National University in Canberra, have also opened their own research branches in Jiangsu.

Statistics from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology showed that in recent years Jiangsu local governments and high-tech parks have joined hands with overseas universities to create 25 new R&D centers, among which 15 are co-hosted with global top 100 universities.

Aside from higher learning institutions, international enterprises such as Microsoft, Siemens, Caterpillar, Ford and Toyota have also shown preference for Jiangsu, having set up 403 institutions and engaged over 15,000 employees by the end of last year.

Wang Qin, director-general of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology, attributed the reasons why these international bodies had chosen Jiangsu were "its solid industrial foundation and complete manufacturing system, rich science and education resources and personnel competence, a high degree of openness encouraging global-oriented innovation and entrepreneurship, and robust international hospitals and schools lifting the burden of overseas researchers to settle their families".

"It took Oxford five years to make up its mind about constructing an institution overseas," said Li Yaping, mayor of Suzhou. "The city's integration of innovation strength, university research capabilities and local industries, such as nanotechnology, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, helped it to stand out."

Wang also said the establishment of branch institutions will stimulate further openness and innovation of Jiangsu, helping it to better use international resources, advance to a global leading status, and play an active role in regional economic transformation and innovation-driven development.