The fourth mode is the international fund. Research projects mainly come from inter-governmental international organizations, such as UN organizations or international NGOs.

The fifth mode is non-governmental cooperation. The most common form is outsourcing of research and development, where the entrusting party (usually a foreign company) provides the funds, and the Chinese university completes the project according to the contract.

Cooperation in key scientific research projects has yielded a series of notable achievements. Among the 33 key institutes (joint research and development centers) approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, 13 are attached to universities. The International Research and Development Center of the Micro-Nano System and New Materials Technology located on the campus of Chongqing University is a case in point. It cooperated with the Fraunhofer Institute (IZM) and Chemnitz University in Germany. The outcomes of the cooperation, a modular miniature spectral instrument, the Microsystem Chip, and the Monitoring Microsystem for the environment of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, are held in high regard by both the Ministry of Science and Education in Germany and the Ministry of Science and Technology in China. Another is LCEUA (Low Carbon Energy University Alliance), co-established in 2009 by Tsinghua University, the University of Cambridge, and MIT, for the purpose of encouraging the development of a low-carbon economy and bolstering the vision for low-carbon lifestyles. There’s also ongoing cooperation with ROK in dark matter exploration experiments.

Cooperating with world-famous transnational companies and keeping pace with the market offer both students and the scientific community significant research support and widened horizons for undertakings. Tsinghua University and Boeing launched a joint research center, and together with Johns Hopkins University, established the Tsinghua - Johns Hopkins Joint Center for Biomedical Engineering Research. Motorola has co-established laboratories and research centers with the universities of Tsinghua, Peking, Nanjing, Fudan, Shenzhen and the Chengdu College of UESTC (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China). Microsoft has signed a cooperative agreement with the Ministry of Education to jointly build key laboratories in five Chinese universities.

Attracting International Students

Graduated from the State University of New York with a bachelor’s degree in economics and management, an American student who introduced himself as Justin is now working towards a master’s degree at the School of Environment, THU. He thinks that THU’s equipment can be rated as world-class. For example, the multi-media classrooms and advanced scientific research facilities on campus have altered his former picture of Chinese institutions of higher learning. He doesn’t have enough praise for the library’s people-oriented design, especially the bilingual database. “There is no difference between THU and famous universities in the U.S.,” says Justin. “The academic quality of professors here is excellent.” Every week he discusses academic and research problems with his tutor. His current research focuses on investment and financing in the fields of environmental protection and new energy.

As of 2010, there were 3,219 overseas students from 122 countries and regions spending at least one semester studying at THU, and American graduate students make up the bulk of foreign scholars. Thanks to the 100,000 Strong Initiative launched by U.S. President Barack Obama, the number of American students who study at THU has grown rapidly during the past two years, changing the conventional pattern of Korean and Japanese dominance of the foreign student body. In addition, Peking University (PKU), another world-famous university in China, receives some 5,000 overseas students annually. Chinese and foreign students work on learning activities together everywhere on campus.

According to the Ministry of Education, in 2010, there were 265,090 foreign students from 194 countries and regions studying in 620 colleges and universities, research institutions and educational organizations in the mainland of China. This number is an 11.3 percent increase over 2009. Of these, 66.32 percent came from Asia, 15.8 percent from Europe, 10.27 percent from America, 6.19 percent from Africa and 1.42 percent from Oceania. Students from Europe and Africa have registered the most remarkable levels of growth, while students from the ROK, the U.S. and Japan are in the top three.

At present, colleges and universities in China provide 11 disciplines for overseas students – literature, medicine, economics, management, engineering, law, education, science, history, philosophy and agriculture, but Chinese language, arts and medicine are still the dominant majors chosen by students from abroad. In recent years, however, the number of overseas students choosing to major in science, engineering and management is showing a steady growth. The main reasons are that science and engineering programs in Chinese colleges and universities have an apparent advantage over their counterparts in nearby countries, and China’s sustainable, rapid and stable economic development must factor in as well.

Justin often tells his relatives and friends in the U.S. his thoughts and feelings about studying at THU and about China in general. Introducing them to a different China is how he hopes to realize his hope that more Americans will visit the country. In his opinion, the future of the 21st century lies here, and he hopes to find a job in China after graduation.