The British Harrow School and Chengdu, Sichuan's provincial capital, agreed to open an international school in the city in September 2014. The Harrow International School Chengdu will be located at Zhonghe Street in the city's hi-tech zone, according to reports released when the agreement was signed on July 25.

Founded in 1572, the Harrow School is one of the most prestigious private schools in the world, symbolizing the outstanding education and traditions of Great Britain. Many British prime ministers, poets and royal family members graduated from Harrow, including Prime Minister Winston Churchill and poet Lord Byron.

The Harrow School acknowledges the promising education investment environment in Chengdu. Its creation will improve the city's investment environment and education quality by attracting world famous enterprises and well-known educational institutions.

Lv Xinwei, Director General of the Education Bureau of Chengdu, said introducing and learning from Harrow's advanced educational philosophy will greatly help promote Chengdu's education reform.

Harrow's Chengdu school plans to recruit international students in 2014. The school will be incorporated into the British education system, using a standard British teaching model that provides courses in natural science, engineering, mathematics, computer science and economics. The Harrow School in Britain will be responsible for faculty recruitment.

In recent years, Chengdu has made great efforts to attract world famous educational institutions. For example, American Meritas Schools has set up the Léman?International?School in Chengdu, granting 1,200 degrees to foreign students in China. Chengdu also attracted such world renowned professional education institutions as the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) of Britain, Wiesbaden Modern Technology Vocational Training Center of Germany, and the Sydney Institute of TAFE in Australia.

The Harrow International School Chengdu will be Harrow's second school on the mainland and the fourth in Asia after those in Bangkok, Beijing and Hong Kong.