Opportunity

The City University of Shenzhen, a new private university, is set to open its doors in 2019. The university will have 16 colleges, located in the heart of the city. Funding and support is provided by the municipal government and well-known private investors, and RMB 4 billion (£455 million) in funding has been secured in addition to in-kind investment from the local government, who are providing many of the facilities. The university plans on recruiting 20,000 students by 2028.

The founding President, Chen Keshi, who studied in the UK for six years, is a self-described anglophile and is seeking a UK university partner to provide consulting services related to the establishment of the Jewellery Design College. These services will cover issues such as pedagogy, course design, research methodologies and management models.

Areas of responsibilities for the two collaborating parties

UK partner:

• From January 2017 to December 2019, to provide consulting services in all areas of establishing the Jewellery Design College, including but not limited to, curriculum design, course management, recruitment of teaching staff, pedagogy, research methodologies and management models
• From February 2017 onwards, to deliver short-term training courses for young professionals in Shenzhen and provide internationally recognised professional qualifications in the subject area of Jewellery Design.

  City University of Shenzhen:

• funding the consultancy services and delivery of short-term training courses
• student recruitment
• administrative support for all the collaborative activities.

Both partners will be expected to travel frequently between the UK and China, with the majority of the work being delivered on the ground in Shenzhen.

Brief introduction to the City University of Shenzhen

The preparatory office of the university was established in May 2016, which is currently working on the application process to obtain university status from the Chinese Ministry of Education. If the application is successful, the organisation aims to open the City University of Shenzhen in 2019.

The office is housed inside ‘KK100’, a 100-story skyscraper and 14^th tallest building in the world, which is owned by the main investor of the university. The first phase of consultancy services and short-term training activities will be delivered in the ‘KK100’, the Jingdu hotel and other newly renovated buildings in Shenzhen’s Caiwuwei financial district.

The university’s ambition is to develop new talent that will drive Shenzhen’s ongoing industrial development and urban upgrading as it continues its development as a modern, international and innovative city.

Brief introduction to Shenzhen

• Shenzhen sits at the centre of the Pearl River Delta, the largest urban area in the world in terms of both size and population, and is one of China’s major economic hubs
• Shenzhen's 2015 GDP totalled US$270 billion

• Shenzhen is one of China’s special economic zones and has been labelled as ‘China’s Silicon Valley’, with 30,000 technology companies located in the city

• Shenzhen is a major financial centre, home to some of China's most successful high-tech companies, including Tencent and Huawei.