Huaqiao University (HQU) was set up by the Chinese central government in 1960, to educate students from overseas China (Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan). Huaqiao means "Overseas Chinese University".
One campus is located in Quanzhou, a coastal city that is the largest in the Fujian province of southeastern China, and another campus in Xiamen. Both of these areas are known for their large number of residents from overseas China.
HQU has 20 colleges, offering bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in sciences, engineering, economics, management, law, liberal arts, philosophy, history, agriculture and education. The library, based on the Xiamen campus, has a total collection of 2,040,000 volumes.
Its strengths lie in its engineering faculty, however it is most renowned for its teaching of overseas Chinese language. The Chinese Language and Culture College is China’s biggest base for Chinese culture and language education; it offers short-term Chinese study courses, training courses for language teachers, summer and winter camps for students, preparatory courses for younger overseas students and an annual symposium for students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
The Fujian province of China (population approximately: 38,000,000) and is traditionally described to be “eight parts mountain, one part water and one part farmland”. In fact, it is the most forested provincial administrative region in China. There is also a rugged coastline with many islands and bays.
Quanzhou, the city, which is home to HQU, is a major exporter of agricultural goods such as tea, bananas, lychees and rice.
