Hopes high for Westlake University

Expectations run high as Westlake University, China's first private university aimed at cultivating high-level talent in advanced technology and reaching the forefront of scientific research, is expected to open next year.

A brainchild of a group of top Chinese academics, the university, whose campus is still under construction near scenic West Lake in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, will be the country's first private doctorate-granting university. One of its aims is to rival international counterparts such as Rockefeller University and the California Institute of Technology.

Recruitment of faculty members and doctoral students has been underway since the establishment of the Westlake Institute for Advanced Study in December 2016.