(Pictured above from top to bottom) The Rt Hon John Prescott MP; Madame Chen Zhili and Chancellor Professor Yang Fujia at the official tree planting at the opening of The University of Nottinhgam's Ningbo Campus.

The Rt Hon John Prescott MP with students from The University of Nottinhgam's Ningbo Campus.

Bridge from China to the world: official opening by Deputy PM

The University of Nottingham's pioneering new campus - the first western institution inside China - has been officially opened by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon John Prescott MP.

The University of Nottingham Ningbo China enrolled students at the beginning of the current academic year, and is modelled on its counterpart in the United Kingdom - complete with lake, bell tower and a replica of the Trent Building in Nottingham's University Park. It was made possible by recent legislation, which allowed foreign institutions to establish campuses inside the People's Republic. Nottingham is the first university to be granted permission.

Mr Prescott spent time on campus meeting staff and students, who are taught UK-accredited degree courses in the English language, quality-assured in Britain.

The Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, leading Chinese academic Professor Yang Fujia, said the opening was an historic event. He added: "Education can and will play a unique role in making China's development sustainable and in managing China's globalisation. The Ningbo campus is a vehicle for us to introduce the best practices of a leading international university."

The Provost of The University of Nottingham-China, Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Ian Gow said: "New educational philosophies and new teaching practices will be applied. Small classes, with 16 students each, will be conducted to encourage interaction between students and their tutors. Ningbo will be one of the major cities of the 21st century, and the potential for this campus, and this city, is vast." Professor Gow accepts that bringing together the British and Chinese cultures is a challenge, but he believes that the two nations have a lot in common in educational terms. "In the end, if the big vision is the same, then it can be made to work."

Amongst powerful Chinese figures who attended were the country's Education Minister Zhou Ji, and State Coun cillor Madam Chen Zhili, both of whom serve in the national cabinet.

Also on site were senior figures from regional economic development in the United Kingdom, including the Chairman of East Midlands Development Agency, Dr Bryan Jackson, and the Chief Executive of the City of Nottingham, Gordon Mitchell. National business and enterprise interests were represented by a delegation from the China-Britain Business Council and Chinese counterparts.

Teaching at the new campus will be research-led. Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, Professor Sir Colin Campbell, said: "We are making sure that new research institutes concentrate on areas like energy, the environment and finance, which are critical to China's sustainable development. We believe in the internationalisation of education. The China campus not only provides the opportunity for Chinese students to receive western education. It also provides the chance for British students to travel to, and learn more about, China."

As well as the Official Opening of the new campus, the Deputy Prime Minister and Chinese VIPs exchanged gifts and marked the groundbreaking of a new Centre for Sustainable Energy Technology in Ningbo.

Professor Yang Fujia said the significance of the venture is high in terms of worldwide trade, cultural exchange and understanding. He added: "In this age of globalization, friction between cultures is not inevitable. Education is the key. It can facilitate understanding, cooperation and partnerships. By providing opportunities for different peoples to learn about each other, we aim to produce individuals who understand and are adaptable to both Chinese and British cultures. We believe that this will help to promote mutual understanding and mutual trust. It is our ideal and ambition that the Ningbo campus serves as a bridge connecting China to the rest of the world. This will be our contribution to promoting a more peaceful and harmonious world."

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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China, is based in the historic and commercially-booming seaport city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, south of Shanghai.

Nottingham, one of the leading UK universities to figure in the Top 100 of both of the world rankings lists published by the Times Higher Education Supplement and Shanghai Jiao Tong, is the first foreign university to obtain a license to set up in the People's Republic of China, following the Chinese Government's 2003 legislation.

The Nottingham venture is in partnership with the Zhejiang Wanli Education.

Nottingham Ningbo, using temporary accommodation provided by the Wanli Group, first introduced degree programmes taught entirely in English in September 2004. Some 250 students were registered. A year later the extensive new £20 million campus, with facilities for 4,000 students, received students, to reach a total of 930 students.

The new venture is generously supported by the Ningbo Municipal Government, and Zhejiang provincial government, with support from the Chinese Ministry of Education and the government at the very highest levels.

The Chinese Government's recent Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools (2003), is designed to encourage leading western institutions to come to China, bringing teaching and research systems and staff to carry out research-led teaching, in English, on undergraduate and postgraduate degrees which are internationally excellent.

The aim is to deliver degrees with exactly the same standards and value as the degrees from the UK campus, but to do so at a greatly reduced cost. Opportunities for international experience will be available to spend some time at Nottingham and also at other overseas universities, especially those in Nottingham's global network of educational partners. In addition every effort will be made to attract students from other countries in order to create a truly international campus.

The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China, will recruit first-class students in China who normally have achieved excellent overall scores in the Chinese University Entrance Exam (equivalent to the first rank Chinese university scores) although other qualifications will also be accepted.

Internationalisation is a very important element of The University of Nottingham's overall strategy, and a new campus was opened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia in September in Malaysia, at Seminyeh, close to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Nottingham will deliver a first class UK university education in Ningbo through the presence of a truly international staff. There will be a growing number of international students, either as full degree students or as one semester and one year visiting students. There will be a special International Summer programme at The University of Nottingham UK, at the end of the third year. In addition there will also be opportunities for outstanding students to take up a limited number of places on exchange programmes at Nottingham and its partner universities worldwide.

The degree programmes originally launched in 2004 have been specially tailored to meet the needs of 21st century China, as it globalises and internationalises. International Business and Management, International Communications, International Studies, and Computer Science and Information Technology, plus excellence in English as well as the opportunity to study foreign, especially European languages and western societies, will make a major contribution to the needs of the Chinese and international public and private sectors.

The University is placing early emphasis on research and development, working to achieve a synergy between some of its research strengths and China's priorities and, in particular, those of the city of Ningbo and Zhejiang province. It has encouraged an emerging research and development relationship between the city of Nottingham and the East Midlands region and their counterparts in China, with a twinning agreement in place, and it will explore areas of mutual benefit with companies UK-wide.

Pictures will be available on request. For more information please contact Jonathan Ray, Director of Public Affairs, on 00 86574 8822 2272, jonathan.ray@nottingham.ac.uk; or Emma Thorne, Media Relations Manager in The University of Nottingham Media and Public Relations Office, on +44 (0)115 951 5793, emma.thorne@nottingham.ac.uk