Government to buy EUR 2.3m worth building in Budapest for a Chinese university

That would be the Shanghai-based university’s first campus abroad. Based on a government decree, it will receive a building in Budapest to start its education program.

According to mfor.hu, the government accepted a separate decree for the Chinese Fudan University and will help to establish its first campus abroad. They wrote that they agree with the university’s aim to start an education program in Budapest, and therefore, they would buy a building for the institution.

fudan-university smapse — The campus of the university in China. Photo: smapse

The decree does not specify the building, but mfor.hu says that the government probably already found it. The fact that the government allocated exactly 821,492,000 HUF (EUR 2,265,000) supports that hypothesis. According to the plans, they will pay that from the 2021 budget.

The appearance of the Chinese university

provoked political debates.

This is because the government did everything to chase away the Central European University (CEU) even though that was the best institution of higher education in Hungary. Meanwhile, they do everything to attract a Chinese university and help establish their first campus abroad in Hungary. Furthermore, the government attacked the CEU because they issued two diplomas. However, that will be one of the main attractions of Fudan University, as well.

According to the plans, the campus

will be ready by 2024.

Then, they will start education in four or five programs. Levente Horváth, the chairman’s chief advisor in the Hungarian National Bank, said that these areas will probably be economics, international relations, medicine, and engineering. The planned

student number will be around 5-6,000 with more than 500 teachers.

As we reported before, the Hungarian government hopes that the campus’s presence in Budapest will help to transform the country into a “regional knowledge hub”. The Hungarian government also cites the “outstanding research record” of Fudan, affirming that the new campus will “enhance” the educational standards of Hungarian universities. This could be vital for Hungary’s economy. A spokesperson for the Hungarian government said that the Chinese government views the new campus in Hungary as “a priority project of bilateral cooperation.”

“The initiative is equally in line with the policy of easterly opening,

the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative,

and the goals of the cultural, scientific and educational treaty between the two countries which was renewed in last November,” the spokesperson said. Fudan University is ranked 40th in the QS World University Ranking.

The University has more than

4,500 lecturers who teach around 30,000 students.

Additionally, Fudan University has previously partnered with the Corvinus University of Budapest in offering a double MBA program. Hungary will provide land, teaching and research facilities for the new campus in Budapest, as well as legal and administrative support. Meanwhile, Fudan University will aspire to offer novel majors catering to local and European contexts. It will hone in on emerging interdisciplinary foci, thereby facilitating research, as well as training programs, thus promoting high-tech innovation in Hungary.

Source: mfor.hu