On December 19, as the Hainan Free Trade Port launched island-wide special customs operations, Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (BiUH) welcomed its first-ever Open Campus Day—showcasing the early harvest of the FTP’s construction and development.
In front of the school-name stone engraved with the calligraphy of Su Dongpo, over a hundred teachers and students from Yangpu Foreign Language School and Yangpu Middle School, along with media guests, began their first in-depth encounter with this “unique” university.
At the Welcome Center, Mr. ZENG Weilu, Vice President of BiUH, presented a clear vision through a slideshow presentation. He elaborated on the distinctive mission of the university as China’s first independent educational institution established by a foreign public university—not only introducing the authentic German “work-integrated” educational model but also serving as a precise connector between the industrial demands of the FTP and the cultivation of internationally-minded talents.
YI Jinfang, a first-year student from Hainan, brought this “future” closer to home through the perspective of a peer. She shared her journey of adapting and growing from her hometown in Hainan into a fully English-taught classroom, honing her ability to engage with the world within a multicultural campus environment.
Armed with fresh insights and real resonance, the students scattered into the campus. In classrooms, they became instant “university students” in a bilingual session led by German faculty—ideas sparked and collided in live-time exchange.
At the industrial robotics training platform and the digital economy laboratory, they got hands-on with cutting-edge technology, understanding the essence of “learning by doing.”
Walking through the teaching buildings connected by the “Sino-German Chain” linkways, they experienced the open, wall-free campus concept and its green, low-carbon design philosophy.
“It feels like being in a school in Germany—it’s an immersive cultural experience,” exclaimed WANG Yanying, a student from Yangpu Middle School. TAN Chang, a student from Yangpu Foreign Language School, admitted that the all-English practical environment was both a challenge and a tremendous opportunity for growth.
The open day offered these soon-to-be university students a glimpse into an alternative educational approach—one deeply integrated with industry, emphasizing hands-on capabilities, and synchronized with global frontiers.
The establishment and rapid development of BiUH is a vivid footnote to the institutional opening-up of the Hainan FTP. The Hainan Free Trade Port Law permits independent establishment of educational institutions by high-level foreign universities. BiUH is the first university in the Hainan FTP established by an overseas higher education institution.
From Su Dongpo’s promotion of education and culture a millennium ago in Danzhou to the independent operation of a German university here today, this land has consistently borne the mission of pioneering and exchange. BiUH is precisely the continuation of this spirit in the new era.
The special customs operations is the beginning of a higher level of openness. BiUH, this vessel carrying the dream of Sino-German educational innovation, is setting sail with the tailwind of the FTP, cultivating future-oriented practical talents for Hainan, for China, and for the world.
Education knows no borders; the future is already here. With the island-wide special customs operations of Hainan Free Trade Port as a new starting point, BiUH will stride through the gateway of openness and forge ahead hand-in-hand with the thriving port, jointly painting a next chapter woven from integration and innovation.
