Peking University, one of China’s top universities, will open its Oxford campus in 2018, marking the first Chinese university to own an overseas branch school.
The university’s HSBC Business School has purchased a medieval-style property at the heart of the British academic hub, Foxcombe Hall, for a reported price of 8.8 million pounds (75 million yuan, 10 .87 million US dollars), which will be used as the campus.
The Foxcombe Hall will be used as the Oxford campus of Peking University's HSBC Business School. /Photo by HSBC Business School
According to Hai Wen, dean of the HSBC Business School and vice president of Peking University, the Oxford school will start to enroll students in 2018, which also marks the 120th anniversary of the university’s establishment.
The courses at the Oxford campus will focus on “professional knowledge of China’s economy, financial market and corporate management,” Hai said, adding that they will recruit some local faculty and staff.
Peking University’s plan to launch an overseas branch began in 2016, as China aims at establishing global fame for its elite universities.
Interior of Foxcombe Hall. /Photo by HSBC Business School
Foxcombe Hall was built in the 1890s with an area of nearly 60,000 square meters. The teaching facilities will take about 3,600 square meters. Hai said it is a nice place to sit down and study, and the environment there will be well preserved.
China is not alone in launching overseas campuses. A number of the world’s A-list universities have already set up several schools in China, such as Stanford and Havard. Britain’s Harrow, Dulwich College and Wellington also have campuses in China.
Located in proximity to Oxford University is a challenge, said Hai, expressing his full belief in the HSBC Business School. “The biggest difference and comparative advantage of our students is that they will have more opportunity to get to know China,” he said.
Hai said the students of the university’s Oxford school will spend their academic years in both Britain and China. “We will never be satisfied to be second-class, and our goal is to become equals of the Oxford University’s business schools.”
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