The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) is the third overseas campus of the University of Nottingham and China's first sino-foreign cooperative university.^[1] Located in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, it is a joint venture partnership between the University of Nottingham and the Zhejiang Wanli Education Group.^[2] All its academic programmes lead to University of Nottingham degrees.^[3]

The institution holds a unique status. The Chinese Ministry of Education views it as an independent university.^[4] Meanwhile, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the University of Nottingham in the UK consider UNNC as an overseas branch campus of the University of Nottingham (along with the University of Nottingham Malaysia).^[5][6]

China's first international university was the Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST), established in 1992 as a Korean-Chinese joint-venture institution. However, the YUST did not have an independent legal personality.

Following the establishment of YUST and China's accession to the WTO, new legislation was passed in China in 2003 that opened up possibilities for foreign universities to set up campuses in the country with independent legal status. The University of Nottingham Ningbo China was the first Sino-foreign university of its kind to be established under this new legal framework.^[5] The university admitted its first students in 2004 for Arts and Social Science subjects.^[5]

Its campus was launched on 6 September 2005 by British Prime Minister Tony Blair from Beijing in a broadcast for China Central Television.^[7] It was officially opened on 23 February 2006 by British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, in the presence of Chinese education minister Zhou Ji and State Counsellor Chen Zhili.^[7]

At the end of 2012, the British Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) went to the University of Nottingham Ningbo China for a quality assessment. In May 2013, QAA released the Quality Assessment report on the university and concluded that the academic level of University of Nottingham Ningbo China and the quality of students were consistent with the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.^[3]

UNNC offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes across three primary faculties. Each faculty encompasses a number of schools or departments:

• Nottingham University Business School China:^[8]
  • Department of Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Management Systems
  • Department of Finance, Accounting and Economics
  • Department of International Business and Management
• Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences:^[9]
  • School of Economics
  • School of Education and English
  • School of International Communications
  • School of International Studies
  • Language Centre
• Faculty of Science and Engineering:^[10]
  • Department of Architecture and Built Environment
  • Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
  • Department of Civil Engineering
  • Department of Computer Science
  • Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Department of Geographical Sciences
  • Department of Mathematical Sciences
  • Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

All programmes are modeled after equivalent programs at the University of Nottingham (UK) and are taught entirely in English.^[3] Upon graduation, students are awarded University of Nottingham degrees.^[3]

• University of Nottingham
• University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus