ZHENG CAIXIONG

GUANGZHOU: A new university is to be established to meet the increasing demand for skilled workers in this provincial capital.

Chen Chuanyu, deputy mayor of Guangzhou, yesterday said the new Guangzhou University will be set up on the existing joint campus of the city's former Guangzhou University, the Guangzhou Normal Institute and the South China Construction Institute.

The university and institutes will be merged this autumn. The municipal government is hoping to appoint a well-known scientist or scholar to be the first president of the new university, which will begin to enrol 7,500 students in September. The total number is expected to reach more than 20,000, making it into one of the biggest universities in China.

Chen, who is in charge of scientific and educational development in Guangzhou, said the new university will administer several professional vocational schools, including the Guangzhou Educational Institute.

Chen said the municipal government will invest about 4 billion yuan (US$482 million) within three years to further improve the province's higher education.

"The new university will import more advanced equipment and technologies and try to attract experienced lecturers and teachers from home and abroad to help improve its educational quality," Chen said.

"Establishing the new Guangzhou University is of great significance in the city, which has enjoyed rapid economic growth but suffers from a lack of skilled personnel," Chen said.

"A lack of qualified personnel will prevent Guangzhou from continuing to grow quickly unless we can train enough scientists, technicians, engineers and other skilled personnel in the years ahead," Chen said.

The new Guangzhou University will specialize in foreign languages, computer technology, executive administration, accounting, law and finance, which the prosperous metropolis urgently needs.

The new university will employ 2,000 full-time teachers and will mainly enrol local middle school graduates.