Published : 08/02/2026

On 8 February, 1990, the inauguration ceremony of Shantou University (汕頭大學) in China's Guangdong Province was held.

Shantou University was founded with a donation of over 10 billion HKD from Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠). It is a comprehensive provincial university in Guangdong that was approved for establishment by the State Council of China in 1981.

Shantou University covers an area of 1,990.20 mu, with a building area of 570,100 square metres.

It is not only a provincial-university jointly constructed by the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Province, and the Li Ka Shing Foundation, but also the only public university in the world that is continuously funded by a private foundation, the Li Ka Shing Foundation.

Shantou University has a significant international impact and has repeatedly been ranked in the world's most prestigious university rankings for many times.

For example, in the 2021 World University Rankings, Shantou University was ranked 51st among the Chinese Mainland's universities.