Virtual University Park: Shenzhen's High-Tech Industrial IncubatorRepresentatives of 31 Chinese universities of higher learning gathered together Wednesday in the Virtual University Park of Shenzhen to inaugurate their own research establishments there.The park, set up one year ago, has trained more than 800 qualified personnel in a dozen specialties ranging from computers, telecommunications engineering, integration of machine building and electronics, financial management, to business management. It has also introduced over 60 high-tech research achievements used in industry, injecting vitality to high-tech industrial development in Shenzhen. Liu Yingli, deputy secretary-general of the Shenzhen City People's Government, said the virtual university park is not simply a place for on-line education, but an educational base for multi-level training courses and a center where universities, enterprises, and venture capital groups may come together, creating opportunities for industrialization of scientific achievements. So far, 34 Chinese universities have become members of the park. Another 17 foreign colleges of higher learning, including Bauman Moscow State Technical University, the Russian Academy of Science Far Eastern Branch, the National Technical University of Ukraine and Tunghai University, have joined the Park on-line. A main building for the virtual university park, with a combined floor space of 17,000 sq m, is under construction in Shenzhen's high-tech industrial zone and should be completed by the end of the year. It will include rooms for lectures, reading and meetings, along with service systems, telecommunications network systems, as well as scientific and technological workshops. Meanwhile, the administrative center of the park has also signed agreements with three local banks to provide financial support to its members in using academic achievements in industry. Shenzhen was the first of China's five special economic zones and celebrated its 20th anniversary late last month. In the past two decades, Shenzhen has created an economic miracle and experienced an annual growth rate of over 30 percent. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |