Xi Youmin, executive president of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University CHINA DAILY

Having a long-term commitment helps the school seek long-term quality, and in practice to put more stress on the development of students' thinking and moral capabilities than the memorization of what Xi calls "knowledge points", or fragmentary knowledge.

Unfortunately, Xi said, many Chinese schools are still stuck at the stage of one course book, one teacher and one string of knowledge points.

"That system doesn't really help students solve problems," Xi said. "That makes them dependent, not independent."

That is also why he wants his school to cut clean with old practices, combine the best of East and West, and redefine the concept of a university, he said.

Xi also has the support of the university's board of directors, and support from Suzhou Industrial Park,which is the school's landlord.

So far it is still not fully financially self-sufficient, and still relies on public and private financial support. But there is enough support, Xi said, to allow the school to maintain the quality of its staff.

It recruited only 164 students in its first year of service. Today, the campus has grown to be "a vibrant community of more than 10,000", according to its website.

But "we don't want to expand just in size", Xi said. "We want to keep up our standards. The first thing we want is to be special. And we work ceaselessly on it."