Changshu - Our City

Changshu

Changshu, referred as “Yu” for short, is a national historical and cultural as well as a national ecological city. It is also one of the birthplaces of the Wu Culture (regional culture of the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River), whose name is taken from “Changzhao Hezhi” (《常昭合志》a consolidated district annals for local history and geography compiled and published in 24th year of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1636-1912) by Wang Jin and Yang Jixiong). “As the region is located in the fertile land, it is less affected by droughts and floods during the year. Although encountering severe floods and droughts, the region had not suffered disastrous blow owing to fertile low-laying wetland and quality planting soil, so the region abound in gifts of nature brought harvests to there for years.” Changshu therefore is known as the “blessed land in the south of the Yangtze River”. Changshu, a county city 110-kilometer to the west of Shanghai, sitting in the southeast of Jiangsu Province and the hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta , borders Taicang city to the east, Kunshan city and Suzhou city to the south and Wuxi city and Jiangyin city to the west, which makes Changshu rank to the forefront in China’s county centers of economy, culture, finance, commerce, exhibition and shipping.

As part of Chinese culture history, Changshu has been a place for talents gathering. Yu-Shan School of Calligraphy with long and profound accumulation has been promoted and passed down by generations.Yu-Shan Painting School with lasting charm and romance shines its unique glory till now and Yu-Shan School of Qin (the ancient Chinese musical instruments with strings) on pursuing simple life and virtues attracts countless Qin players.

Since the official establishment of Chinese Ancient Imperial Examination (an ancient Chinese Civil Service Examination System) in Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), Changshu was famous for offering countless talents to the Dynasties, such as Zhuangyuan (the person who gained the top result in the highest level of imperial examination); Gongsheng (the scholars who were selected by the ruling classes in Ming and Qing Dynasties to study in the capital city); Jinshi (the former third degree candidates in the National Civil Service Examination).

In modern China, Changshu has contributed a total of 24 distinguished scientists for motherland, including 21 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 3 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

In terms of climate, Changshu belongs to subtropical monsoon marine climate due to sitting in temperate zone of northern hemisphere, with distinct seasons, mild climate and abundant rainfall, whose annual extreme maximum and minimum temperatures respectively reach 38.3℃ and -3.3℃.

With regard to the transportation, Changshu Municipal Government has planned and built the supporting facilities of “accelerating the progress of urbanization”, including 3 high-speed railway stations among which Changshu Station has been put into use, 1 metro line and 7 elevated expressways. In the near future, Changshu will realize the goal of “Two Ones and Four Halves”, that is, one hour to Nanjing and Hangzhou, half an hour to Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi and the Development Zone along the Yangtze River.

Changshu High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Jiangsu Province

Changshu High-tech Industrial Development Zone, formerly known as Changshu Southeast Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province have been evaluated by the local government, as one of the Rapidest-growing Development Zones in Jiangsu Province since setting up approval in May 2003 as well as the Development Zone with the Most Investment Value in Yangtze River Delta by related institutions. On March 4, 2020, Changshu High-tech Industrial Development Zone was rated as a national demonstration base for new industrial property by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China.

Up to now, Changshu High-tech Industrial Development Zone has successfully introduced more than 700 projects from over 20 countries and regions, with domestic and foreign registered capital, respectively reaching 10 billion and more than 30 billion CNY. At the same time, the Zone takes the National University Science Park as the carrier, actively implements the three strategies of "international function, high-end industry and environmental quality", and gradually forms a development atmosphere of "high integration of science and technology, talents and capital, and efficient combination on research and development, incubation and production".

Changshu UWC+

In November 2018, UWC Changshu China held a debut “Think Tank Exchanges of UWC Students’ Parents” which conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on topics such as smart city development, financial technology leading innovation, and futuristic industrial layout for Changshu. Following these exchanges, we then took this opportunity to initiate the project of "UWC+ industry".

Changshu Municipal Government speeds up the construction of an industrial cluster for closely integrating cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain and financial industry, promotes deep cooperation with "UWC+ industry", and actively introduce "science and technology + finance" projects to build a new highland of financial technology industry. CWA was launched in the same month, we aim at enabling more Chinese students to enjoy high-quality international education with Chinese characteristics through our prospective platform for international education under the influence of UWC+.