A delegation from the University of Western Sydney (UWS), led by its president Barney Glover, visited the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Fujian province on March 23.

Glover noted he was impressed by how Pingtan balances industrial development and ecological conservation in order to achieve sustainable growth, and he has seen enormous potential in Pingtan’s tourism and technology industry.

UWS is also keen to the fact that Pingtan is now a part of a free trade zone in Fujian province and plays a bigger role in communication between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, said Glover.

With an improved infrastructure, Pingtan will invest more in higher education, where UWS, as an international university, can chip in and hopefully cooperate with Pingtan in certain aspects.

Medical technology will be an important part of the Pingtan FTZ, and UWS has an advantage in nursing education, said Lin Jiangling, deputy director of Pingtan’s administration. He also proposed that Pingtan and UWS jointly build an international school.

UWS faculty also made suggestions on Pingtan’s development.

Linda Taylor, vice-president of UWS, said Pingtan has predominant tourism resources that it can concentrate on developing clean energy, green technology, water sports, service industry and trade finance.

In the future, Pingtan can partner up with more overseas universities to bring in more students and give them lucrative career options, said Lan Yizhen, executive assistant vice-president of UWS.

Cliver Smallman, dean of UWS’s business college, also mentioned the promising tourism industry in Pingtan, adding that it should adopt a higher international standard.