The Ministry of Education has given its much-delayed seal of approval for a plan to build the mainland's first ultra-modern university to rival the world-renowned California Institute of Technology, or Caltech.
South University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTC) founding president Dr Zhu Qingshi said he had received a Ministry of Education directive dated December 24 endorsing a Guangdong provincial government plan to build the university's infrastructure and recruit teaching staff.
The approval came more than three years after the Shenzhen city government put forward the plan to build a modern university as part of a reform push under a central government medium- and long-term education development blueprint running up to 2020 and a similar reform plan for the Pearl River Delta region.
The plan has also set off heated discussions, as SUSTC holds promise as an experiment that could lead to the overhaul of the entire university system on the mainland. The current system has been heavily criticised for losing quality teaching and creativity because of bureaucracy.
Zhu, a former president of the University of Science and Technology of China was headhunted by the Shenzhen government. He is making it a priority to cut down bureaucracy, starting by scrapping the giving of official ranks to staff - something all other mainland universities do.
He said it was a relief to have the ministry's approval, but he still felt as if he were 'walking on thin ice' in dealing with government bureaucracy - especially since the school has to apply for separate approvals for student recruitment and accreditation to issue diplomas.