China’s growing number of universities funded by entrepreneurs are attracting more world-class scholars, aligning with Beijing’s intensifying push for hi-tech self-sufficiency, analysts said. Fuzhou’s Fuyao University of Science and Technology (FYUST), established with a USD10 billion donation from billionaire Cao Dewang, Chairman of glass manufacturer Fuyao Group, began enrolling students this year, and says its inaugural faculty line-up includes 15 academicians from home and abroad, covering cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), life and materials sciences. “The university currently has 302 faculty members, with 71.2% having overseas study or work experience, including 15 academicians and 56 scientists ranked in the top 2% globally in their fields,” FYUST Vice President Xu Fei told Xinhua this month.
FYUST has recruited renowned scholars from China, as well as North America, Europe and Japan. Among those from overseas, Canadian academicians and professors are particularly prominent, with scholars from the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Austria also occupying important positions. Many hold prestigious academic honors, such as being Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the UK’s Royal Society, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, or being Members of the Japan Academy. They have previously held positions at top foreign universities, including Cambridge, Toronto, Ulm and Tohoku, according to FYUST’s website. If foreign scientists can bring their knowledge and patents to China, it will help China bridge the technological gap with the United States and Europe, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Professor with the Department of Government and International Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. “It will help Chinese universities to internationalize in a context where Chinese academics are more and more isolated from the rest of the world,” Cabestan said.
The Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), founded in Ningbo by semiconductor mogul Yu Renrong with a CNY46 billion investment, is also welcoming its first undergraduate cohort this year, after enrolling doctoral students for the past three years. EIT has over 90 principal investigators in charge of clinical trials or scientific research projects, including 15 academicians, 23 fellows of prestigious international academic organizations, and 53 professors with experience at universities ranked in the top 200 worldwide. Hangzhou’s Westlake University, which pioneered the entrepreneur-funded model, has also attracted top scholars from overseas. Italian mechanical engineer Marco Amabili, an international member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, established the Dynamics and Vibrations of Systems and Structures Lab at Westlake’s School of Engineering in 2023. Thierry De Pauw, a leading Belgian mathematician, and Lei-Han Tang, a globe-trotting Chinese statistical physicist, joined Westlake last year, the South China Morning Post reports.
