Source: Publicity Department of the Party Committee
On New Year’s Eve of 2025, the facades of Yuyao’s landmark buildings were transformed into a sea of shimmering lights. Against the night sky appeared the glowing message: “Setting Sail with Wanli, Intelligent Manufacturing in Yuyao, Zhejiang Wanli University.”
This carefully orchestrated themed light show illuminated the city’s heartfelt anticipation for its first undergraduate university. More than a visual spectacle, it was a warm embrace from a manufacturing powerhouse toward knowledge, talent, and innovation.
A Citywide Gesture for Education
“Welcoming a university with lights across the whole city—this is the first time in Yuyao’s history!” Many residents paused to take photos and share them on social media. One comment read: “Seeing the lights come on, I truly feel that Yuyao is finally going to have its own undergraduate university. It’s so exciting!”
Behind the dazzling light show lies Yuyao’s long-standing aspiration for higher education and its urgent demand for talent to power industrial development.
The starting point of this moment is the establishment of the Yuyao Campus of Zhejiang Wanli University, the first undergraduate institution in the city’s history. Carrying a distinctive “intelligent manufacturing gene” aligned with regional development, the university is bringing new educational opportunities to this ancient city with a thousand-year history.
A representative from the Yuyao municipal government said: “We hope that through such a symbolic and ceremonial gesture, we can convey our sincerity and warmth to the faculty and students of Zhejiang Wanli University, while also demonstrating to society Yuyao’s strong commitment to education and its eagerness to attract talent.”
Precise Alignment Between Industry and Education
Construction of the Yuyao Campus officially began on May 20, 2025. From the very beginning, the campus was designed with a clear mission: to closely connect with Yuyao’s industrial strengths.
“Our goal is not simply to build a branch campus,” said Yang Zhenfeng, Vice President of ZWU. “We aim to establish a hub for industry-education-research integration that is deeply intertwined with the local economy.”
The campus plans to establish three schools: the School of Intelligent Manufacturing, the School of Energy and Materials, and the School of Industry-Education Integration. Each is designed to address key needs in Yuyao’s industrial development and create a talent cultivation system in which the disciplinary chain aligns with the industrial chain.
For example, the School of Intelligent Manufacturing will offer majors such as Mechatronic Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Automation, both highly sought after by Yuyao’s leading industries in intelligent equipment, robotics, and high-end components. Meanwhile, the proposed New Energy Materials and Devices major under the School of Energy and Materials—currently under application—will directly support the rapidly expanding new energy and new materials industrial clusters in Ningbo and Yuyao.
Beginning in 2026, nearly 200 students are expected to be admitted annually into these programs through the national undergraduate admissions plan. The Yuyao Campus is scheduled to be fully operational in September 2027. Starting in 2026, it will enroll students independently. As the campus facilities are still under construction, the first cohort of students admitted in 2026 will study at the university’s two campuses in Ningbo city center during their first year before relocating to Yuyao in 2027. From 2027 onward, students admitted to majors such as Intelligent Manufacturing and New Energy Materials will complete their entire four-year undergraduate studies at the Yuyao Campus, becoming a fresh source of talent for the city.
“Yuyao Speed” in Industry-Education-Research Integration
In fact, preparations for the Yuyao Campus began even before construction started.
“The research institute serves as a bridge,” Yang Zhenfeng noted. “On one side, it connects the university’s intellectual and talent resources; on the other, it links directly to the practical technological needs of enterprises.”
This model—“research institute first, campus to follow”—ensures that the university campus is firmly rooted in the soil of industry from the very beginning.
In early 2025, the Zhejiang Wanli University Yuyao Innovation Research Institute officially opened as a pioneering initiative for the campus. Supported by a “5+1+X” framework, the institute focuses on fields such as intelligent manufacturing and smart energy.
The university’s Carbon Neutrality Research Institute was among the first to move in, and a Zhejiang Provincial Postdoctoral Workstation has also been established. More than 50 PhD researchers from leading universities around the world have joined the research team, while over 80 master’s and doctoral students are conducting technological research at the institute. The team has already launched collaborative projects with several Yuyao enterprises, undertaking multiple industry-funded research programs and injecting intellectual momentum into the upgrading of local industries.
For local companies, the most immediate benefit lies in talent supply. One executive from a Yuyao intelligent manufacturing enterprise explained: “Previously, we had to recruit graduates from Hangzhou or Ningbo. Now that relevant majors are available locally, internships will be much easier to arrange, and it will be far easier to retain talent.”
Even more significant is the broader innovation ecosystem that a university brings. Beyond students, it introduces faculty teams, research platforms, and an atmosphere of academic exchange—all of which can stimulate regional innovation.
A representative from the Talent Office of the Organization Department of the Yuyao Municipal Committee commented: “The Yuyao Campus of Zhejiang Wanli University will act like a magnet, attracting high-level talent, research institutions, and high-tech projects, forming a virtuous cycle in which industry attracts talent and talent drives industrial development.”
A Win–Win Future for City and University
The light show may have ended, but the shared future of Yuyao and Zhejiang Wanli University has only just begun.
“These majors are practically tailor-made for Yuyao’s industries,” a Yuyao municipal official noted. As a provincial core zone for the intelligent Internet-of-Things industry, Yuyao recorded 600.8 billion yuan in revenue from the sector in 2024, with intelligent optoelectronics accounting for 65 percent of the total. The Sunny Group, a leading company headquartered in Yuyao, ranks first globally in market share for automotive and smartphone camera lenses.
Majors such as Mechatronic Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Automation directly support key fields including intelligent optoelectronics and industrial robotics, while New Energy Materials and Devices aligns with talent demands under China’s “dual carbon” strategy and the rapidly expanding new energy sector. These programs will cultivate more application-oriented professionals who understand industry and excel in innovation.
From the early establishment of the Innovation Research Institute to the accelerated construction of the campus and the targeted implementation of new academic programs, the partnership between Zhejiang Wanli University and Yuyao has already gone far beyond simply building a university.
As the illuminated slogan of the light show proclaimed—“Wanli Sets Sail, Intelligent Manufacturing in Yuyao.” It marks not only the beginning of a new chapter for the university, but also a new starting point for Yuyao as it spreads the wings of education and advances toward becoming a leading city of intelligent manufacturing.
Looking ahead, Yuyao will continue to provide comprehensive support for the campus’s development. The campus is expected to be fully operational by autumn 2027, and over the next five years it is projected to deliver more than 5,000 new engineering talents to the local economy—ensuring that the seeds of university-city collaboration bear abundant fruit along the banks of the Yaojiang River.