China's Zhejiang University (ZJU), will be the Chinese partner university of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SU), Singapore's new publicly-funded university, slated to open its doors to students in 2011.

According to a press statement from the Ministry of Education (MOE), the collaboration of SU and ZJU was affirmed by the signing of a Government-to-Government Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today, by Mrs Tan Ching Yee, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, and Her Excellency Zhang Xiao Kang, The Ambassador of the People's Republic of China.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is in Singapore for a state visit and the APEC CEO Summit 2009, witnessed the signing at the St. Regis Hotel, Singapore.

This news comes after the selection of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as SU's US partner.

Ranked third among all the universities in China, ZJU is reputed for excellence in both education and research, with a strong focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. The university is also ranked second in Engineering and fourth in Science in China.

It counts Physics Nobel laureate Li Zhengdao, Chinese Academy of Science President Lu Yongxiang, and Chinese Minister for Finance Xie Xuren among its alumni.

Said Dr Ng Eng Hen, Singapore's Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence, on its latest collaborations: "The linkages that Singapore makes with the world are crucial in preparing Singapore for the future.

"The Singapore University of Technology and Design will be another node in the global network we want to build. Through collaborating with MIT and Zhejiang University, we hope to create an engine of knowledge that has trans-continental reach, and that is able to draw together and create synergies from different cultures of education and research.

"We believe that this will ultimately translate into innovations that will bring benefits not only to the universities, their students and their faculty, but also our respective countries and beyond."

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