China's first Sino-American university opening in 2013

New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai), the first university jointly operated by China and the United States, will enroll its first undergraduates in 2013, announced the preparatory council of the NYU Shanghai on Thursday.

The assessment of student applications will be based on both their performance in China's national college entrance examination and an NYU-style student screening process.

Of the first 300 undergraduates, it is expected that 51 percent will come from the Chinese mainland, and 49 percent will be international students.

The construction of NYU Shanghai has combined the strength of two universities and two world-level metropolises. To study at the new institution, student applicants worldwide will have to show the same talent demanded of them by top universities around the world, said NYU President John Sexton.

NYU Shanghai also announced the appointment Yu Lizhong, president of the Shanghai-based East China Normal University (ECNU), as its first president.

Jeffery Lehman, the former president of Cornell University and the director of the Peking University Law School, has been appointed as the deputy president and CEO of NYU Shanghai.

By now, about 200 faculty members of NYU and 100 scholars worldwide have expressed willingness to join NYU Shanghai.

NYU Shanghai is an independent entity authorized to grant degrees. NYU and Shanghai-based ECNU will operate the institution.

The campus, located in the Lujiazui financial and trade zone in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, is now being built.

The syllabuses and curricula of NYU Shanghai will follow the example of world-leading universities, and feature all-around education, English lectures and small classes that encourage open discussion.

All undergraduates will study humanities, as well as social and natural sciences, before choosing a major.