A stone-setting ceremony for the first bilingual school offering classes from kindergarten to high school in Kunshan was held in Huaqiao on Tuesday.

Located in the southern part of Greenland Road in Huaqiao International Service Business Park, East China Kang Chiao International School has a total investment of 500 million yuan ($81.4 million) and will be completed next year.

Covering an area of more than 140,000 square meters, the international school plans to set up about 1,000 classes for its kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools. More than 3,000 students are expected to apply for admission in September next year.

The East China Kang Chiao International School adopts a European-style campus layout. It will have an ecological green area measuring 12,000 square meters north of the campus. In addition to modern classrooms, the school will have advanced facilities such as an indoor swimming pool, English village, multimedia hall and field teaching area, creating a good learning environment and high-quality accommodations for its students.

The school has another prestigious campus in Taipei, which was built in 2002. The Taipei Kang Chiao Bilingual School has very high college acceptance rates. This year, all the high school graduates were admitted to universities in the United States.

Since its completion, Huaqiao International Service Business Park has been committed to upgrading and improving its urban functionality, putting into operation a number of entertainment projects, including shopping centers, hotels and fitness centers. Especially in recent years, Huaqiao has stepped up efforts to improve talent training, focusing on the construction of an education system and high-level hospitals. The establishment of East China Kang Chiao International School will further enhance Huaqiao's competitiveness.