Imperial College London creates new Chinese R&D opportunities

Following Premier Li Keqiang's recent visit to the UK, Sir Keith O’Nions President of Imperial College London led a delegation to China to promote innovation and education ties between the two countries and also discuss co-location opportunities in London to commercialise cutting-edge research. ICL is working to intensify Chinese involvement with Imperial West: a 25 acre GBP 3 billion (CNY 32 billion) new innovation district in west London, well-connected to the capital's TechCity and MedCity ecosystems.

Imperial is already working with Chinese partners to advance research and its application in nanotechnology, bioengineering, computing, data science, advanced materials, offshore energy, environmental engineering and entrepreneurship. Partners include leading businesses Huawei and AVIC, as well as scientific institutions such as Tsinghua, Zhejiang, Shanghai Jiao Tong, Wuhan, Hong Kong and Peking Universities, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.At present (2013-14) 2,011 Imperial students - 14% - come from China, as do more than 5,000 of the College's alumni.

Events held in Hong Kong, Hangzhou and Beijing included a major two-day Big Data conference with Zhejiang University (ZJU); the launch of a joint Imperial-ZJU data science lab, which will allow some of the UK and China's finest data scientists to co-locate in London;  the first ever Imperial graduation ceremony in China, as Professor Chen Zhu, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and former Health Minister, receives an honorary doctorate at the British Embassy in Beijing and meetings with  leading Tsinghua University academics to explore further collaborations in healthcare, Big Data, and entrepreneurship and innovation.

Sir Keith O'Nions, President of Imperial College London, said:

"China is fast becoming one of the world's most important collaborators in innovation, scientific discovery and commercial application. Anyone serious about the future of science, engineering, medicine and business is embracing Chinese partnerships - and we are excited to strengthen our long-standing ties with the country through Imperial West.

"At Imperial West we will work with Chinese and other international partners to create value from ideas on a global scale. As our vision for this innovation district becomes reality, the UK, China and the wider world will benefit."