Governments of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and China's Guangdong province Thursday signed an cooperation agreement on the construction of University of Macao's (UM) new campus on Guangdong's Hengqing Island.

According to the new agreement, the two sides will give full policy support to launching the UM Hengqin campus project and facilitate its works under the Guangdong-Macao cooperation system.

Headed by Huang Huahua, governor of Guangdong province, an official delegation from Guangdong arrived in Macao yesterday and they held a meeting on the two sides' cooperation on various fields with their counterparts on Thursday. Representing each side, Wan Qingliang, Guangdong's vice governor, and Lau Si Io, the SAR's secretary for transport and public works, signed the agreement after the meeting.

The two sides also agreed that the professionals, workers and construction companies in Macao can participate in the project through proper coordination and measures, according to a press release from the SAR government.

China's central government has authorized the Macao SAR to exercise jurisdiction over the new UM campus on Hengqin Island, the whole of which is separated from Macao by the Pearl River Estuary, and is under the jurisdiction of Guangdong's coastal city Zhuhai.

UM's new campus, covering an area of just over one square kilometer, will be located on the eastern part of Hengqin Island, the site of which is just across a narrow water channel from Macao, according to the information from the UM. A tunnel will also be built under the channel to enable 24-hour commuting between the campus and Macao. UM's faculty, students, staff, visitors and the Macao residents will be able to access the campus through the tunnel without going through any border control.

The new campus will be 20 times larger than UM's current one in Macao, with a minimum accommodation capacity of 10,000 students, according to the UM.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2009)