| ISRAEL’S TECHNION COMES TO CHINA WITH US$130 MILLION FROM LI KA SHING FOUNDATION |
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A new era of research and innovation in science, engineering and life sciences is opening in China with a joint venture between Israel’s prestigious Technion – Israel Institute of Technology – and Shantou University (STU) to build a new academic facility in Guangdong Province.
 Guangdong Province and Shantou Municipal Government will set aside RMB900 million (approximately US$147 million) to fund construction and initial operations, as well as 330,000 square metres for the campus to be located next to STU.
The US$130 million grant from Li Ka Shing Foundation (LKSF) is the largest ever to the Technion and one of the most generous in the history of Israeli higher education. Hong Kong businessman Li Ka Shing is Asia’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of US$28.8 billion. Mr Li attended the ceremony on 29 September in Tel Aviv.
The agreement was signed by Technion President Professor Peretz Lavie and STU Provost Professor Gu Peihua. The establishment of the Technion Guangdong Institute of Technology (TGIT) will connect industries in Guangdong with Israel’s technological creativity, will bridge Israeli technology into China and promote joint research and innovation.
Professor Gu forecast that in 10 years’ time, TGIT will become the best technological school in Guangdong Province, and in 20 years, one of the best in China, with a number of new technologies and associated start-up companies being developed by the institute.
“In a world of fluid boundaries, the transformative power of technology waves like a magic wand, bringing new models and opportunities to many frontiers and generating new solutions to entrenched problems,” said Mr Li during the signing ceremony.
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