https://www.scmp.com/rss/24141/feed Project 211 (Chinese: 211工程; pinyin: 211 gōngchéng) is a project of National Key Universities and colleges initiated in 1995 by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, with the intent of raising the research standards of high-level universities and cultivating strategies for socio-economic development. During the first phase of the project, from 1996 to 2000, approximately US$2.2 billion was distributed. China today has more than 1,700 standard institutions of higher... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com At 7.15 every morning, Professor Wen Shuming and eight Chinese colleagues share a breakfast prepared by two local maids, who have been taught how to cater to the tastes of alien educators. The group then leave their shared home and head for the office: two tube-shaped rooms with bare walls and fluorescent lights in a one-storey building on a busy road, next to a cash machine, a sportswear store and a deserted private school. They are employed by Soochow University, but this office isn’t in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1048488/international-education?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1048488/international-education?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Only about half the mainland universities that accept local students exam-free are expected to have places left for the last round of enrolments starting today. It was hoped the scheme would help cope with a surge of university-entry students this year, as the last students from the abandoned A-level test and the first ones from its replacement, the Diploma of Secondary Education, both graduated. But fears are mounting that many applicants may miss out. Local students who obtain specified... https://www.scmp.com/article/1014232/students-face-shortage-places-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1014232/students-face-shortage-places-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A second university professor has been sacked within a week for falsifying his academic credentials amid mounting public cynicism over the higher-education system. Beijing University of Chemical Technology said Professor Lu Jun , from the college of life sciences and technology, had admitted that he committed plagiarism and that his academic credentials were fake, Beijing Times reported yesterday. Lu, 39, was accepted by a government-sponsored programme that sought to recruit foreign... https://www.scmp.com/article/1008096/second-academic-sacked-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1008096/second-academic-sacked-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A small group of mourners visited the site of the fatal Wenzhou high-speed-train crash yesterday - the first anniversary of the tragedy - but no official commemorations were held. There has also been no special media coverage on the mainland to mark the anniversary of the collision, which left 40 dead and nearly 200 injured, after authorities implemented a gag order. Even the families of victims say they want to get on with their lives rather than reopen old wounds. However, seven students from... https://www.scmp.com/article/1007579/low-key-gatherings-remember-dead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1007579/low-key-gatherings-remember-dead?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A debate is growing in cyberspace about a trend that has seen more mainland universities adopt pinyin - romanised versions of Mandarin script - for the official English translations of their names in recent years, with some people hailing the trend as a good reflection of China's rise, while others dismiss it as cosmetic. Citing questions from some online commentators, The Beijing News reported yesterday that English name changes by well-known universities, particularly ones that cater mainly to... https://www.scmp.com/article/1007513/pinyins-rise-fuels-dispute-over-whats-name?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1007513/pinyins-rise-fuels-dispute-over-whats-name?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Top Chinese diplomats have lambasted the US for undermining Beijing's interests and making strategic mistakes in the Sino-US relationship, accusing Washington of meddling in China's domestic affairs and stirring up worries in the Asia-Pacific region. Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai and senior diplomat Pang Hanzhao warned of thorny problems facing bilateral ties. 'China has never done anything to undermine the US core interests and major concerns, yet what the United States has done in... https://www.scmp.com/article/1007357/us-under-fire-diplomats-pull-no-punches?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1007357/us-under-fire-diplomats-pull-no-punches?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Eight human rights lawyers have urged the Ministry of Education to abolish discriminatory enrolment policies at elite universities which put students from some impoverished and populous regions at a great disadvantage. Chang Boyang, a lawyer from Henan who was one of those who signed the letter to the ministry, said they urged it to reform the university recruitment system, which has been linked to the controversial hukou, or household registration system. Citing official statistics, Chang said... https://www.scmp.com/article/1007086/rights-lawyers-push-enrolment-policy-reform?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1007086/rights-lawyers-push-enrolment-policy-reform?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 In a second-floor office in the archi-tecture department of the mainland's most prestigious university, Professor Xu Weiguo sits contemplating the changes that have occurred since he enrolled here, in the first year that classes were resumed following the Cultural Revolution. 'Architecture and design stopped from 1966 to 1978,' explains the head of Tsinghua University's School of Architecture. 'The first professors back were educated in the UK, the USA and Russia. They brought knowledge of... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003509/shaky-foundations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003509/shaky-foundations?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A formerly cash-strapped private college in Shanghai has become the mainland's first liberal arts college, aiming to nurture talent who can think out of the box. Xing Wei College, now backed by the Shanghai educational authorities, is a ground-breaking venture in another respect: all the courses of its American-inspired curriculum are taught in English by faculty members recruited from the United States. And in a marked departure from the emphasis on the all-important gaokao - nationwide... https://www.scmp.com/article/998689/yale-shanghai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/998689/yale-shanghai?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Paris Fashion Week may be over, but the spirit lives on at K11, the 'art shopping mall' in Kowloon. K11's new promotion, Paris, Bonjour!, began with much fanfare as hordes of fashion lovers crowded its outdoor courtyard to get a peek at Chinese designer Xiao Yu. She showed off her new designs fresh from an exhibition in Paris. Xiao, a graduate of the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University in Beijing and the London College of Fashion, gained notoriety with the success of her... https://www.scmp.com/article/996635/fashion-lovers-flock-courtyard-designs-fresh-paris?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/996635/fashion-lovers-flock-courtyard-designs-fresh-paris?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 About 5,000 Hong Kong students have applied to top mainland universities, including Tsinghua and Fudan, since February 20. Applications end today. From this year on, Hong Kong students who wish to study across the border will no longer need to take the Joint Entrance Examination for Universities. Sixty-three mainland institutions will consider applications based on the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination and Hong Kong A-level Examination. A China Education Centre spokesman says... https://www.scmp.com/article/994551/5000-eye-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/994551/5000-eye-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A ministerial-level official in charge of media censorship has been appointed as dean of one of the most prestigious journalism schools on the mainland, prompting concerns that journalism classes will become more subject to Communist Party control. Liu Binjie, chief of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), took over as head of Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communication, according to Professor Cui Baoguo, vice-dean of the school. Cui said that Liu, as a... https://www.scmp.com/article/994442/censorship-official-be-dean-journalism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/994442/censorship-official-be-dean-journalism?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The mainland's top aviation experts have formed a think tank to offer guidance to government and industry players who seem to have lost their bearings in recent years over the development of home-grown passenger jets. The Research Academy of Aviation Engineering, Technology, Development and Strategy was jointly launched on Sunday by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Beihang University in Beijing, with its headquarters next to the National Laboratory for Aeronautics and... https://www.scmp.com/article/988652/aviation-think-tank-ready-provide-new-direction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/988652/aviation-think-tank-ready-provide-new-direction?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000 China has an old saying: nothing is as important as reading. This gives the impression that China as a nation loves knowledge and study. But, last year, a survey by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication found that Chinese read on average just over four books a year. That's far fewer than South Koreans (11 books), the French (20), the Japanese (40) and Israelis (64). At the same time, another study, by the All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce, shows that, in the past 10... https://www.scmp.com/article/986546/politics-corroding-chinese-love-learning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/986546/politics-corroding-chinese-love-learning?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000 A song about chemistry, with lyrics by the president of Peking University, became one of the most downloaded tunes on the mainland this week - a first for a song about science. Entitled Chemistry Is You, Chemistry Is Me, the three-minute song by Professor Zhou Qifeng went to No 2 yesterday in the chart at Baidu.com, the mainland's biggest search engine, topping Jay Chou's hit Battle Between Heaven And Earth. But most people listened to the song and passed it on to their friends because they... https://www.scmp.com/article/982395/chemistry-song-has-winning-formula-despite-lyrics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/982395/chemistry-song-has-winning-formula-despite-lyrics?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000 After graduation, most university students are busy with their work and seldom return to their alma mater. Yet some remain on or near campus and are reluctant to leave. They are the so-called campus lingerers - students who have graduated but refuse to move on. It is estimated that there are about 100,000 campus-lingerers on the mainland. Some of them refuse to leave because they enjoy campus life; others are running businesses on campus. Wu Runyang, who graduated from Guangdong University... https://www.scmp.com/article/979552/graduates-refuse-move?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/979552/graduates-refuse-move?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Prominent economist Professor Li Daokui has been appointed to a top position in the mainland's 'Silicon Valley', a move viewed as part of the government's efforts to encourage top overseas-educated talent to return home. The Harvard-educated scholar has been appointed deputy director of Beijing's Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, home to many of China's leading hi-tech firms and top higher education and research institutions, including Tsinghua University and Peking University, China... https://www.scmp.com/article/979566/reversing-talent-drain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/979566/reversing-talent-drain?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:00:00 +0000 CK Designworks, an architectural, planning and interior design company based in Melbourne, has achieved success in Nanjing. The company has won a contract for the master plan of a historic zone in Nanjing, following the completion of the master plan for a hi-tech city in the Pukou district this year. The master plan for the 40-square-kilometre historic zone was awarded to a consortium comprising CK Designworks and ERM, a sustainability and landscape planner based in Melbourne; Nanjing... https://www.scmp.com/article/979532/design-firms-master-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/979532/design-firms-master-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:00:00 +0000 From a rural boy born and bred in an impoverished town in Chongqing to a postgraduate medical student at the prestigious Peking University, Luo Dasheng best exemplifies how lives can be transformed through hard work at school. Luo, 24, is in his second year of a three-year master's programme in public health administration. 'I was pretty much single-minded in trying to get there, through all my years in secondary school, and I was lucky that it paid off,' he said. Luo's success story ought to... https://www.scmp.com/article/978867/rural-students-find-college-out-reach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/978867/rural-students-find-college-out-reach?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Peking University dismissed a professor over an extramarital affair he had with a young Yunnan woman, who allegedly blackmailed him. In a statement issued via Xinhua, the university said yesterday that the professor failed to act ethically as a university teacher and his actions tarnished its reputation. However, it refused to disclose the identity of the middle-aged professor. The scandal is seen as the latest example of an overall decline in ethics among mainland academics. The affair came... https://www.scmp.com/article/977564/professor-sacked-blackmail-affair-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/977564/professor-sacked-blackmail-affair-case?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000 A war of words has broken out between the mainland media and a business association that has teamed up with the China Youth Development Foundation to build 1,000 primary schools in Africa. The World Eminence Chinese Business Association, a for-profit organisation registered in Hong Kong that claims to have more than 50,000 members among the global Chinese business community, has been at the centre of a storm since last week. Critics question why the association has so much money at its... https://www.scmp.com/article/976901/african-charity-project-takes-heat-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/976901/african-charity-project-takes-heat-media?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Reform of any kind in China is never easy. When it is concerned with university education, a tightly controlled sector, the task is even more daunting. The recent series of problems that have plagued a pioneering reformist university in Shenzhen speak volumes about the enormous difficulties in overhauling the rigid system. South University of Science and Technology of China has been touted as the future for mainland universities. Modelled on universities in Hong Kong with independent... https://www.scmp.com/article/974242/experiment-cant-afford-fail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/974242/experiment-cant-afford-fail?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 The Chongqing authorities have scrapped a plan to build a 2.5 billion yuan (HK$3 billion) 'red culture' theme park after widespread public criticism, Xinhua reported yesterday. The municipal publicity department said on Thursday night that it was not appropriate to launch the 'China Red Classic Theme Park' - originally planned for Chongqing's southern Nanchuan district - and the contract for the project, signed on Monday, had been terminated. Xinhua quoted Li Jing, deputy director of the... https://www.scmp.com/article/972972/no-green-light-red-culture-park?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/972972/no-green-light-red-culture-park?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 The education authorities have ordered a ceasefire in a bitter war of words between two prestigious Shanghai universities over allegedly underhand recruitment methods. Fudan University, famous for its liberal arts and science departments, accused its biggest rival in the city, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Jiaoda), of sending staff posing as Fudan employees to deceive high school graduates into abandoning their applications to enrol at Fudan and opt for Jiaoda instead. Jiaoda, strong in... https://www.scmp.com/article/972742/shanghai-colleges-joust-students?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/972742/shanghai-colleges-joust-students?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Several government officials and top executives of state-owned enterprises failed to make it through to the second round of voting for new honorary members for the prestigious Chinese Academy of Engineering. An election committee member says they were screened out because of a lack of academic credentials and potential negative social images, as the academy is wary of becoming a club for the rich and powerful. The independent national organisation, established in 1994, announced on its website... https://www.scmp.com/article/972583/executives-rejected-prestige-academy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/972583/executives-rejected-prestige-academy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 When he received his A-level results last year, John Fan Long-fai was devastated. He fell short of the minimum university requirement by failing one of his A-level subjects. This year he had much better prospects after getting a C in Chinese, an E in English and a C and a D in two A-levels. But now he is facing another problem: where should he continue his studies? 'Last year, I had no options. This year I had two to choose from,' he says. 'Now with the A-level results, things will be even... https://www.scmp.com/article/972295/study-dilemma?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/972295/study-dilemma?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Inaccurate forecasting, poor infrastructure and bad co-ordination were blamed yesterday for the chaotic scenes on Thursday when the capital turned into a big swamp during the heaviest downpour since 2004. Though road and subway traffic in the city centre had mostly recovered thanks to the overnight repair efforts of thousands of workers, more than 200 flights were still delayed or cancelled yesterday. Qiao Lin, director of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, said on its website that on Thursday... https://www.scmp.com/article/971647/chaos-capital-perfect-storm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/971647/chaos-capital-perfect-storm?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000 In describing how fierce the competition for students and teachers has become as a result of more universities establishing a presence on the mainland, one campus president doesn't mince words. 'We've become a victim of our own success,' said Professor Ng Ching-fai, president of United International College (UIC). A partnership between Baptist University in Hong Kong and Beijing Normal University, UIC started off six years ago as a little-known facility in Zhuhai scrambling for recruitment,... https://www.scmp.com/article/971352/world-learning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/971352/world-learning?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000 More than 200 senior executives have lost millions of yuan in at least seven degree scams uncovered by a district prosecutors' office in the first five months of the year. Rao Mingdang, an official from Beijing's Haidian district procuratorate, said 33 swindlers had deceived 339 students - 80 per cent of whom were senior executives - out of 7.97 million yuan (HK$9.59 million), the China Youth Daily reported yesterday. One victim alerted police on January 27 after she discovered that a PhD... https://www.scmp.com/article/971188/executives-lose-millions-buying-fake-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/971188/executives-lose-millions-buying-fake-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Jeans may be standard wear for university students but for many at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, naming a campus building after an Australian jeans brand was just a bad fit. Jeanswest's name appeared on Tsinghua's No 4 teaching building on Monday, sparking heated debate. While many said they understood that naming university buildings after a company or a person was common around the world, some students and teachers said it was the kind of company that mattered. 'We all feel it... https://www.scmp.com/article/969071/jeans-firms-no-fit-tsinghua-sponsor-students-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/969071/jeans-firms-no-fit-tsinghua-sponsor-students-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 May 2011 16:00:00 +0000 A star-studded line-up of politicians, academics, presidents of world-class universities and business tycoons - including six of the nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee - joined a grand celebration for the centenary of Tsinghua University yesterday. President Hu Jintao , one of the school's most prominent alumni, seized the opportunity to call again upon universities to make raising the level of teaching and research a top priority, to help the mainland become more... https://www.scmp.com/article/965984/tsinghua-marks-century-scholarship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/965984/tsinghua-marks-century-scholarship?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 They may not have written the book of love, but Beijing's education authorities have come close, updating the capital's university curriculum with a chapter on how to handle romantic relationships. The new teaching guidelines on mental health, released for feedback by Beijing's Municipal Education Working Committee last week, have sparked heated debate on campus about whether romance is a teachable subject. The largely taboo subject of homosexual love has also been included in the draft... https://www.scmp.com/article/965470/students-get-lessons-love-authorities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/965470/students-get-lessons-love-authorities?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Spanish bank offers scholarships at three mainland universities Banco Santander, the largest bank in the eurozone, is collaborating with three Chinese universities - Tsinghua, Renmin and Fudan - on an international research and training scholarship programme for professors and students. Through the bank's Santander Universities Global Division, the scholarships will support international research, Spanish language study and professional practices, which will allow outstanding students at... https://www.scmp.com/article/965086/career-builder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/965086/career-builder?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Beijing authorities banned an inter-university debate competition on the 1911 revolution scheduled to open last night. The first ban in the event's history comes at a sensitive time - with still no word from prominent artist Ai Weiwei a week after he was detained at Beijing airport, and amid a broad crackdown on dissidents and mass gatherings following calls for a 'jasmine revolution' on the mainland. Renmin University politics professor Zhang Ming, who was to be one of the competition's judges,... https://www.scmp.com/article/964707/beijing-bans-inter-college-debates-1911-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/964707/beijing-bans-inter-college-debates-1911-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 A controversial programme at the prestigious Peking University that will identify 'radical students' and send them for meetings with campus administrators has sparked a national outcry online. Administrators from each faculty will screen students who need 'special help' from the university and report the cases to relevant university departments. Ten types of students will be targeted - including those with radical mindsets, those who are 'psychological vulnerable', those 'leading an independent... https://www.scmp.com/article/742028/university-calls-radical-students-quiet-word?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/742028/university-calls-radical-students-quiet-word?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000 In the past few weeks, the world has witnessed a more confident and decisive China, evidenced by its large-scale operations to protect its citizens abroad, from the evacuation of 35,860 workers from strife-torn Libya three weeks ago, to the withdrawal of thousands of Chinese nationals from the worst-hit disaster zones in Japan last week. In yet another swift move, the State Council made a surprise announcement on Wednesday that it was suspending approvals of new nuclear power plants and... https://www.scmp.com/article/741518/china-displays-bold-face-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/741518/china-displays-bold-face-world?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Beijing warned people yesterday against 'street politics' as the anonymous organisers of 'jasmine rallies' on the mainland issued an open letter to major universities calling for more gatherings today. A commentary in the Beijing Daily newspaper, an official Communist Party mouthpiece in the capital, said: 'It is worth noting that at home and abroad some people with ulterior motives are trying to draw this chaos into China by using the internet to incite illegal gatherings, create problems and... https://www.scmp.com/article/740044/universities-urged-join-jasmine-rallies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/740044/universities-urged-join-jasmine-rallies?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000 With the booming mainland economy, a small but growing number of aspiring high-fliers are considering careers in the world's most populous country. Is it better for them to get an MBA at home, where teaching standards might be higher? Or should they pursue one on the mainland, where they would get direct exposure to the Chinese business environment and the chance to develop a strong network of contacts? Business schools on the mainland have a relatively short history and, just a few years... https://www.scmp.com/article/738738/cross-border-study-rivals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/738738/cross-border-study-rivals?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Up to 10 medical workers were injured, six of them seriously, when a crowd of grieving relatives armed with knives stormed a major Shanghai hospital on Monday. At one point, the crowd attempted to throw a doctor out a window. Authorities detained six people in relation to the incident, allegedly sparked by a dispute over the treatment of an elderly male patient before his death. Although the incident occurred on Monday morning, it was not reported by Shanghai media until yesterday... https://www.scmp.com/article/737401/10-injured-bereaved-family-storms-hospital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/737401/10-injured-bereaved-family-storms-hospital?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 They are intelligent, vulnerable young people who work hard for low pay and tend to live together in poor-quality housing. Little wonder, then, that a Beijing-based academic termed them 'the ant tribe'. Professor Lian Si, of the University of International Business and Economics, headed a team that surveyed 4,807 such ants in seven mainland cities. Their number has grown to more than 1 million - with 150,000 each in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and more than 100,000 in various second-tier... https://www.scmp.com/article/733387/graduate-ants-keep-faith-better-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/733387/graduate-ants-keep-faith-better-future?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000 China will never replace the United States as the dominant power on the world stage, says State Councillor Dai Bingguo in a rare essay. The release of Dai's 9,000-word article by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes at a time when China is under fire for its growing assertiveness in foreign policy, especially in the handling of a US-South Korean joint exercise in the Yellow Sea and disputes in the South China and East China seas. Analysts say the essay, part of a collection elaborating on... https://www.scmp.com/article/732710/we-dont-want-replace-us-says-dai-bingguo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/732710/we-dont-want-replace-us-says-dai-bingguo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Gucci autumn-winter 2010 Beijing fashion show Where: Tsinghua University, Beijing When: August 27 What: More than 600 guests attended Italian luxury label Gucci's men's and women's collections fashion show at the university campus in Beijing. Students got a taste of how an international fashion show is run. Almost 60 looks were presented. Who: Enjoying the show were Guo Jingjing, Ethan Ruan, Peter Ho, Fan Bingbing and Yvette Yuen. https://www.scmp.com/article/724401/learning-curves-gucci-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/724401/learning-curves-gucci-show?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Mainland health authorities say they want private investment in public hospitals to be part of health care reform, but plans by two of Shanghai's top hospitals to introduce private capital have hit roadblocks because of fears that medical bills may rise and state-owned assets be lost. High-profile plans by Huashan Hospital and Renji Hospital, released in the past few years and hailed as milestones in reforming the mainland's public health system, have either been rejected or put on... https://www.scmp.com/article/722008/worries-over-bills-assets-stall-health-reforms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/722008/worries-over-bills-assets-stall-health-reforms?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 With a population thirsty for knowledge in its search for modernity and prosperity, the mainland has an increasingly healthy student culture, with university campuses brimming with scholarly and international exchange. The country's long tradition of academic excellence and reverence for scholarly figures would also seem to set the perfect conditions to breed some of the world's top universities carrying out pioneering research. But mainland universities have yet to reach their potential.... https://www.scmp.com/article/721721/university-change-step-right-direction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721721/university-change-step-right-direction?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Yet another high-profile NGO in China appears to have been blacklisted by authorities, as news emerged yesterday that Peking University had warned student groups to keep away from The Transition Institute, which researches and holds seminars on topics relevant to 'freedom and justice for a society in transition'. The news was first leaked on Twitter yesterday as a self-claimed Peking University Chinese department student said all groups had received a message from the university's Communist... https://www.scmp.com/article/720715/students-warned-stay-away-research-ngo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/720715/students-warned-stay-away-research-ngo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 University of Science and Technology of China president Zhu Qingshi was assigned a back-row seat at a recent meeting of university heads. When the organisers realised who he was, he was seated closer to the front, but still behind his peers from other universities. Unlike most others in attendance, Zhu did not hold any official rank. Zhu was amused, according to mainland media reports, but the seating shuffle helps illustrate the bureaucratic way that mainland universities are run. The growing... https://www.scmp.com/article/716526/bid-cut-campus-red-tape-stifling-growth-talent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/716526/bid-cut-campus-red-tape-stifling-growth-talent?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Japan's new prime minister, Naoto Kan, will visit Shanghai on Saturday on his first overseas visit in that role, the website of the People's Daily reports. Kan would visit Japan's World Expo site and also go to Beijing to meet President Hu Jintao , the news website said. Professor Guo Dingping, of Fudan University in Shanghai, said Kan's visit was a good thing because of his friendly attitude towards China and was a 'significant, welcomed measure'. 'He's always been friendly to China and... https://www.scmp.com/article/716423/china-first-japanese-leaders-travel-plans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/716423/china-first-japanese-leaders-travel-plans?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Money can't buy love or happiness. Another thing that money can't buy is - a top-notch university. Like happiness, money helps a lot with building up research infrastructures in science and technology, but it is not the only or even the most important ingredient. Unfortunately, many up-and-coming countries in Asia - China in particular - may not be spending money and allocating resources in the most efficient way. These are not the exact words of Richard Levin, the president of Yale... https://www.scmp.com/article/714176/learning-curve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/714176/learning-curve?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Former University of Science and Technology of China president Zhu Qingshi , who resisted the trend of expansion in the 1990s that sent many universities deep into the red, plans to open the first university not directly controlled by the education ministry this year. The 64-year-old physical chemist says the South University of Science and Technology of China, to be set up with financial backing from the Shenzhen government, will be free of the rampant bureaucracy he says is the biggest... https://www.scmp.com/article/708562/new-shenzhen-university-will-cut-red-tape-and-escape-strict-controls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/708562/new-shenzhen-university-will-cut-red-tape-and-escape-strict-controls?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The president of Yale University says China's top universities will rival the elite ones in the United States and Britain in 25 years, a week after Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to make the country's universities 'world class'. In a Guardian interview published on Tuesday in London, Dr Richard Levin said the fact that Beijing spends 1.5 per cent of its gross domestic product on higher education every year to propel its best institutions may narrow the gap in a generation's time. He also said he... https://www.scmp.com/article/705393/chinas-top-universities-rival-ivy-league?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/705393/chinas-top-universities-rival-ivy-league?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:00:00 +0000