THE Guangdong Provincial Education Department recently released a notice on applications for the establishment of a new public university — Shenzhen University of Technology — and the upgrading of Shenzhen Polytechnic to a public vocational university. The notice is being published for public opinion until tomorrow.

In 2018, the Shenzhen Municipal Government signed an agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to establish Shenzhen University of Technology, based on the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of CAS. The university is located in Guangming Science City with a total enrollment of 8,000 students as planned.

Shenzhen Polytechnic (SZPT), established in 1993, is among the country’s first batch of independent schools for higher vocational and technical education. At present, SZPT has five campuses, with a total area of 2.36 million square meters including 107,500 square meters of classrooms, 50,000 square meters of libraries and 25,800 square meters of gymnasiums.

Shenzhen is ramping up its efforts to develop higher education. Construction work has started on the permanent campus of newly established schools such as the School of Music of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ), also known as the Shenzhen Conservatory of Music (Provisional), Shenzhen University of Technology and Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute, Tianjin University.

Additionally, the Shenzhen Municipal Government has approved planning for Shenzhen Ocean University.

(Wang Jingli)