MACAO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The ceremony for the start of construction of the University of Macao (UM)'s campus in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was held on Friday in Hengqin, south China's Guangdong Province.
The UM campus in the cooperation zone covers approximately 375,600 square meters of land, with a total gross floor area of 831,000 square meters, according to the university. Construction is expected to take about three years, with a partial opening planned for 2028 and full completion in 2029.
The UM told the media that the new campus will include a central teaching building, a sports complex, a riverside international exchange center, and residential facilities for students and staff, along with a range of supporting facilities.
Yonghua Song, rector of UM, noted in a speech that UM has taken the lead in offering education and establishing a campus in the cooperation zone. The new campus will house the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Information Science and Computing, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Design, together with an innovative, multidisciplinary research platform, he added.
Hengqin, located at the southern tip of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province, is separated from Macao by a narrow stretch of water. Established in 2021, the cooperation zone serves as a vital platform for promoting Macao's appropriate economic diversification. ■
