Work on the Sun Yat-sen University Shenzhen campus was initiated in Guangming New Area yesterday.
The campus, which covers 144 hectares, will be completed in 2021.
With a floor space of 1.29 million square meters, the campus will have a relatively comprehensive discipline system, including the liberal arts, sciences, medical sciences and engineering, and a complete talent cultivation system from bachelor’s to doctoral degrees.
To serve the city’s innovation-driven development strategy, as well as its economic and social development needs, the campus will focus on the medical sciences and emerging interdisciplinary engineering.
Sun Yat-sen University signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Shenzhen government in November 2015 to jointly build a university in accordance with the world-class standard, as an important base for cultivating high-level innovative talents for Guangdong’s economic and social development. To support the development of medical education and raise the level of health care in Shenzhen, the two sides have also cooperated to build three affiliated hospitals of Sun Yat-sen University in Shenzhen. The first hospital project, the Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, which is about 1 kilometer away from the campus, was put into operation a month ago. The 8-billion-yuan (US$1.25 billion) facility offers 800 hospital beds in the first phase. The second phase of the hospital project has been initiated. It will offer 3,200 hospital beds upon completion in 2020.
According to the development plan, the Shenzhen campus will accommodate 20,000 students and the enrollment and graduation standards will be the same as Sun Yat-sen University.
The design of the Shenzhen campus was inspired by a traditional Chinese tale about how the phoenix raises its nine children in a stable and prosperous environment.
Located near Zhupo Hill in Guangming, the campus will be designed and built in a shape that resembles a phoenix with long and furry wings. The design also features some recreational spaces, including sports facilities, coffee shops and bookstores.
The landmark architecture of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou will also be recreated on the Shenzhen campus, including the statute of Sun Yat-sen and the traditional archways.
Sun Yat-sen University was established in Guangzhou in 1924.