A bird's-eye view of Suzhou. [Photo/ourjiangsu.com]

Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu province has become a cluster for domestic first-class universities, with some setting up branch campuses and some establishing research institutes in the city, local media outlets reported.

Suzhou will welcome the official operations of three renowned universities this fall, namely the branch campuses of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Taicang, which will focus on aviation and smart manufacturing, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Taicang, as well as Soochow University in Wuzhong district.

Construction on the branch campus of Nanjing University in Suzhou New District is accelerating with the first phase of the project expecting to start operations in September 2022.

The city also reached a cooperative agreement with Southeast University on Feb 5 on a branch campus, which is expected to enroll 4,500 students by 2025.

A group of universities have since last December discussed ways with the city to kick off cooperation on scientific research, such as three innovation centers to be built with Nanjing Medical University, a platform with Tsinghua University for scientific innovation in the green industry, an incubator with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for agricultural talent in the Yangtze River Delta region, as well as a coordinated innovation center with Nanjing Medical University and Shandong University for reproductive medicine research.

The branch campuses and research institutes are expected to infuse more scientific and technological strength into Suzhou.

Supporting facilities are also under construction to bring more convenience to local residents, as well as newcomers to the city. For example, a clinical college affiliated with the School of Medicine of Nanjing University was unveiled. NJU's affiliated kindergarten, as well as primary and middle schools have also been put on the planning agenda.