The Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM) said on Thursday it was open for applications and inquiries as its student recruitment kicked off.
Wang Ruifang, president of the XMUM, said the campus will be open to the public from Dec. 17, with the classes expected to commence on Feb. 22 next year.
The first enrolment of 500 students is projected for Academic Year 2016, he said, adding that this number is expected to grow to 5,000 in 2022, and eventually, to reach the maximum capacity of 10,000 students.
"The majority of students will be from Malaysia and China as well as other ASEAN countries in line with XMUM's vision of forming a multi-cultural campus," Wang said.
He said that at least 30 percent of the teaching staff will be distinguished professors from China's Xiamen University (XMU), while the rest of the lecturers will be recruited from other countries, including Malaysia, with at least 80 percent of faculty possessing PhD degrees.
According to XMUM, the Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Studies programs will be taught in Mandarin while the rest of the programs will be delivered in English.
The president said though the university was registered as a private university in Malaysia, it is committed to upholding its founder Tan Kah Kee's spirit of selfless dedication to the noble cause of education, building the branch campus into a non-profit institution with the honorable intention of giving back to society.
"Any surplus funds will be channeled back into research foundations and used as scholarships for XMUM students," he added.
Tan, a Malaysian Chinese, founded the XMU in 1921, which is now well-known as "Strength of the South" in China.
XMUM is the first overseas campus fully established by a renowned Chinese university.
