Construction begins on Xiamen University’s campus in Malaysia

Construction of Xiamen University’s branch campus in Malaysia began in late October, marking the first overseas campus by a Chinese university.  Enrolment will begin in September next year. The first class will have places for 500 students, and the student population is expected to reach 5000 by 2020.  The university hopes to eventually have just over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

At least 17 bachelor degree courses, including marine biology and biotechnology, marine environmental science and technology, finance, accounting , Chinese medicine, international business, journalism and communications, will be offered.  With exception of Chinese studies and traditional Chinese medicine, all courses will be delivered in English. In addition to bachelor degree courses, the XMU Malaysia Campus will also offer master degree programs in New Energy Technology, Chinese Language and Literature, Business Administration as well as doctoral programs in Marine Biotechnology and Computer Science.

The annual tuition for most of the bachelor degree courses is expected to be between RM 20,000 and RM 25,000.

The campus is located on a 60-hectare site in Salak Tinggi, which is about a 15 minute drive from Putrajaya, the federal administrative center of Malaysia. Initially, four faculties will be open to students: Chinese language & literature, Electrical Bio-engineering & Chemical Engineering, Medicine Business & Economics and ICT.

Xiamen University was the first university in China to be founded by a Chinese based overseas. Its founder, Mr. Tan Kah Kee (Chen Jiageng 陈嘉庚) is a businessman and philanthropist in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.