Shi Yigong, president of Westlake University, delivers a speech at the signing ceremony held at the Yunqi campus of Westlake University on Jan 20. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

The government of Xihu district in Hangzhou and Westlake University signed cooperation deals at a ceremony held at the Yunqi campus of Westlake University on Jan 20.

According to the deals, the local government will help build a 15-square-kilometer Westlake University City in northwest Hangzhou as well as the second-phase project of the Yunqi campus of Westlake University in Southwest Hangzhou.

Gao Guofei, Party chief of Xihu district, said that the district will offer more support for Westlake University in terms of facilities, attracting talent, and industrializing research results.

The two sides will work together to build the university into a world-class research-oriented institution, he added.

Shi Yigong, president of Westlake University, delivered a speech at the signing ceremony in which he expressed gratitude for Xihu district.

He said that the local government provided financial aid toward the university's construction and helped solve the difficulties in accommodating skilled workers and providing schooling for the children of skilled workers.

In March 2015, seven top scientists including Shi Yigong proposed building a new research-oriented university. With the help of the local government, construction on the first-phase of the Yunqi campus of Westlake University was completed and the campus opened within a year.

As a result, Westlake University is developing rapidly. The university has already set up the school of life sciences and the schools of science and engineering. It now has 112 principal investigators (PI) and 95 post-doctoral researchers.

In addition, the university now operates 92 independent laboratories, four Zhejiang provincial-level key laboratories, and five school-level research platforms.

"Over the past five years we’ve managed to build something incredible out of nothing," said Shi, "we can never thank the government of Xihu district and all social sectors enough for their help."

The ceremony saw the signing of four deals between the two parties, two of which concern with the development of life sciences.

According to the two deals, both parties will work to build a high-level life science research institute as well as conduct basic research in the life sciences and development of new medicines.

The biomedical industry has been a focus of Hangzhou and Zhejiang. By 2022, Hangzhou aims to become China's leading city in biomedicine, with the main business revenue in the sector surpassing 100 billion yuan ($14.48 billion).

The government of Xihu district in Hangzhou and Westlake University sign cooperation deals at a ceremony held at the Yunqi campus of Westlake University on Jan 20. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]