Westlake University, China's first private university aimed at cultivating high-level talent in advanced technology and reaching the forefront of scientific research, has won Ministry of Education approval to be launched in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province.

The university, a new-type of research-oriented university, with an emphasis on basic and advanced scientific and technological research, plans to recruit 130 doctoral candidates this year. It has so far enrolled 19.

The establishment of Westlake University was initiated by a team of seven top Chinese academics, including former Tsinghua University vice-president Shi Yigong, in March 2015.