A frontier of innovative education

Suzhou's Dushu Lake education district is attracting international institutes to boost talent pool

When Paul d'Azemar arrived to establish the Skema Business School in Suzhou - located in the city's Dushu Lake Science and Education Innovation District - in 2009, he was amazed by the city's education landscape.

"Before I came here, I regarded my life here as a new adventure, preparing for a totally different atmosphere and life. Yet after living here for a while, I found that the education and innovation district had a very international flavor. Its rapid growth in the number of international education institutes is in line with the city's innovative muscle," says D'Azemar, the Skema Suzhou campus director, in fluent Mandarin.

One of D'Azemar's major responsibilities is to expand the Skema campus in the district, which covers an area of 1.5 square kilometers in the Suzhou Industrial Park.

Since it was established in 2002, the Suzhou Dushu Lake Science and Education Innovation District has drawn many foreign institutes to establish offices in the area.

The district currently collaborates with four foreign universities. There are also six research institutes established by foreign education institutions and 65 international cooperation projects.

There are more than 600 foreign workers, about 1,600 overseas returnees and more than 12,500 students engaged in joint-venture institutes and programs. Annually, more than 1,800 overseas students are enrolled in the district's schools.

D'Azemar says one advantage to developing international business schools in Suzhou is that the city attracts many major companies, such as Fortune 500 companies.

"We regard Skema in Suzhou as a very important engine for our global network. Globally, we have five district campuses with about 7,000 students, 800 of whom are from China, studying various disciplines from luxury goods to finance," he says.

He says the development of the Skema Suzhou campus also reflects the development of Sino-French relations.

"The talents cultivated in China with an international vision can be helpful for the development of the local business, too," says the 48-year-old.

Jiang Weiming, deputy secretary of Suzhou Dushu Lake Science and Education Innovation District administrative committee, attributes the growth in the district's international education environment to the fact that the district is promoting innovation in education.

"The Suzhou area is at the vanguard of new ways of thinking about higher education. The entire higher education sector is on the verge of reform. We are among the first industrial parks going abroad to attract international education institutions. Innovation is the driving force for the district's rapid development in international education. There has been a lot of investment recently into world-leading universities here," Jiang says.

He says the Sino-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park offers a major advantage for the development of international education institutes.

"This is no exaggeration: the SIP can be compared to Silicon Valley, with a cluster of more than 10 university campuses within SIP's education and innovation district," he says.

Zhang Xiaoying, vice-chairman of the Suzhou Dushu Lake Science and Education Innovation District administrative committee, says the district will launch English websites and create international education exhibitions to attract more students.

"We plan to integrate all the schools' resources here through online services. Schools can then share these resources together," says Zhang.

Ewout van der Schaft, associate professor of practice and deputy dean for the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, says Suzhou's educational institutes enjoy a distinct advantage: The park is one of the most competitive industrial development zones in China.

"There are increasing demands for students with global vision," says Van de Schaft. "Educating our students in a city that boasts strong foundation in many industries such as manufacturing and high-tech, we can arm the students with the skills that are needed in the global market."

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, established in May 2006 as the first overseas collaborative university in China to be granted degree-awarding powers from the Ministry of Education, aims to cultivate international talent in business and technology.

After two years at the university, students are given the chance to complete their degrees in the United Kingdom. It currently has an enrollment of 9,000, the majority of them are from China.

"Though our students are mainly from China, most of our teachers come from more than 40 countries. Educating here is like integrating the East with the West," Van de Schaft says.

"We've already had some cooperation with local universities but we want to have more collaboration. Suzhou is a city with great natural beauty and time-honored history. As the Venice of the East, it is a good place to live."

Shen Lin contributed to this story.