Vice-Chancellor joins Prime Minister on China trade mission

Professor Sir Howard Newby will announce new developments at XLTLU during the trip to China

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Howard Newby, has joined Prime Minister, David Cameron on a trade visit to China focused on building new business partnerships between the two countries.

The Vice-Chancellor, along with a range of business leaders from across the UK, is supporting the Prime Minister and six government ministers in demonstrating that Britain is open to investment opportunities from China’s vast and growing markets.

21^st century challenges

The delegation will demonstrate that partnerships between UK and China can help tackle some of the biggest 21^st century challenges, such as sustainable urbanisation, educating the next generation, and meeting the healthcare needs of the elderly.

During the visit, the Vice-Chancellor will announce new building developments for the South Campus at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU).  The South Campus project is valued at approximately £80M and will give additional capacity for 5,000 students on 20 new Masters and undergraduate programmes.  It will also enable the University to employ 500 more staff and provide additional research space as the University works towards fulfilling its goal of becoming a research-led institution.

XJTLU currently has more than 6,500 students registered on over 35 undergraduate, Masters and PhD programmes.  The completion of the South Campus should see student numbers increase to 15,000 by 2020, 20% of which will be international students.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Howard Newby, said: “Our students and research partnerships in China help us create a truly international education experience, both here in Liverpool and in Suzhou.  Working together, we can create graduates and world-class researchers that contribute to tackling the global challenges faced by today’s society.

Meetings

“Of the 27,000 students studying at Liverpool, more than 3, 000 are from China, and over 1,600 of these are studying at Liverpool from XJTLU.  Students from XJTLU studying at Liverpool generate approximately £21M in course fees, and contribute between £20M and £30M to the local economy.”

Over the course of the visit David Cameron will meet with Chinese students and civil society representatives, as well as hold meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang and potential business investors.

For further information about the visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-china-building-a-long-term-relationship