Global Media Highlights in July

DETIK

Headline: Cara Kampus China-Inggris agar Mahasiswa Nggak Ketergantungan AI: Diajarkan (How a China-UK University Keeps Students from Becoming Too Dependent on AI: By Teaching It)

Published on: 25 June 2026

Summary: As studies show that two in three university students now use generative AI, and at least 9% admit to using it to cheat, the article explored how XJTLU approaches the issue.

Rather than banning AI, Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, explained that the University integrates AI literacy progressively across all four years of study: starting with understanding AI and its ethical boundaries in year one, moving toward discipline-specific applications in year two, and independent AI-assisted research by year three. He emphasised that the goal is not to produce students who depend on AI, but students who can use it creatively and responsibly to generate new ideas, skills he argued are more important than ever for a future where AI may replace many routine tasks.

TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION CAMPUS

Headline: Software engineers with people skills grow from cardboard cities

Published on: 1 July 2026

Summary: Software engineering students need more than coding ability; they also need to know how to communicate, negotiate, manage a project, and collaborate under pressure.

Dr Nanlin Jin, Associate Professor at XJTLU’s School of Advanced Technology, describes how she introduced a “cardboard city” exercise for 350 undergraduate students: working in teams of seven to nine, students must design and build a physical model city using only basic stationery in three hours.

The exercise mirrors the full software development cycle from gathering requirements and assigning roles to building and presenting a product. Students who complete it report greater confidence and a clearer understanding of how to work together on the larger software projects that follow.

SUARA

Headline: Double Degree Makin Diminati, Ini Manfaatnya untuk Peluang Karier Global (Double Degrees Increasingly in Demand: Here’s What They Mean for Global Career Opportunities)

Published on: 2 July 2026

Summary: The article explored the growing appeal of dual-degree programmes among students seeking an edge in a competitive global job market. Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, was featured in the article, highlighting the University’s international environment as one of its core strengths.

He emphasised that technology should serve as a tool to enhance education rather than replace the human element, and described XJTLU’s educational model as one that helps students develop both sharp thinking and wisdom by integrating knowledge from Eastern and Western perspectives.

THE STRAITS TIMES

Headline: China’s bathhouse boom: How a centuries-old tradition became a trendy 24-hour hangout

Published on: 3 July 2026

Summary: The Straits Times explored how China’s bathhouse culture, once a purely functional tradition, has been reimagined by younger generations into a 24-hour social destination combining wellness, dining, entertainment, and relaxation.

Dr Kan Li, Assistant Professor at XJTLU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, said that the social and leisure functions of public bathhouses have remained remarkably consistent across centuries, and traced the origins of today’s commercial bathhouse model to the restructuring of state-owned enterprises in north-east China in the 1990s, when communal workplace bathing facilities disappeared, but the habit of communal bathing endured and created demand for commercial alternatives.

NATURE

Headline: China boosts prestigious grants for young scientists — will it ease competition?

Published on: 3 July 2026

Summary: China decides to expand its most competitive early-career research grant scheme by 50%, with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) adding an extra 12,000 funded projects, worth around 3.6 billion yuan, through its Young Scientists Fund. The grant has effectively become a prerequisite for young academics in China to secure university jobs, promotions, or tenure, yet its success rate has fallen sharply in recent years as the pool of applicants has grown far faster than available funding.

Dr Xinzhao Tong, Associate Professor at XJTLU’s School of Science, was quoted in the article, explaining that winning this grant is a near-essential gateway for career progression at Chinese universities. She noted the particular pressure on young researchers who must balance repeated grant applications with other life decisions and spoke from personal experience, having succeeded only on her fifth attempt.

KOMPAS

Headline: China Mendanai Masa Depan, Indonesia Berdebat soal Upah Murah Dosen (China Funds the Future, Indonesia Debates Low Academic Salaries)

Published on: 6 July 2026

Summary: Indonesian outlet Kompas examined the stark contrast between China’s aggressive investment in scientific talent and Indonesia’s ongoing struggle with low academic pay. The article highlights how the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) has become a high-stakes gateway for early-career researchers, shaping who gets hired, promoted, or granted tenure at Chinese universities.

Dr Xinzhao Tong, Associate Professor at XJTLU’s School of Science, noted in the article that at many Chinese universities, young academics must win this grant to secure a position, promotion, or permanent appointment, and that she herself only succeeded on her fifth attempt.

INDEPENDENT OBSERVER

Headline: XJTLU Strengthens Presence in Indonesia, Offers Double Degrees and Global Career Pathways

Published on: 8 July 2026

Summary: Independent Observer reported on XJTLU’s Jakarta event and growing presence in Indonesia, currently its largest international student market with around 700 active students. The article highlights XJTLU’s dual-degree model as a key draw for Indonesian students seeking both regional and global career opportunities.

Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, outlined the University’s philosophy of integrating AI into education not as a replacement for learning but as a tool to enhance it, and described how partnerships with over 300 companies bring real industry challenges into the classroom.

TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION

Headline: Critics misinterpret our mission, says joint campus leader

Published on: 17 July 2026

Summary: Times Higher Education published an in-depth interview with Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, in which he directly addressed criticism that has been levelled at the institution. Professor Xi rejected these characterisations, arguing that critics fundamentally misunderstand XJTLU’s mission: not to replicate either parent university, but to build an independent international university that blends the best educational traditions of East and West.

He pointed to outcomes data, including a 98% employer satisfaction rate and 83% of the Chinese mainland graduates progressing to top 50 universities worldwide, as evidence that the model works. The article also touches on the institutional conflicts and “bumps” Xi says are inevitable when two very different academic cultures try to build something new together.

THE ECONOMIST

Headline: China’s mysterious new billionaires are conquering the world

Published on: 19 July 2026

Summary: The Economist examined China’s fast-growing class of young self-made billionaires who are building globally competitive businesses while deliberately avoiding public attention, unlike their American counterparts. The article traces how wealth creation in China has shifted from real estate and consumer internet toward AI, advanced manufacturing, and deep tech.

Dr Jiawei Hai, Assistant Professor at XJTLU’s Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Hub, was quoted in the piece, noting that many of China’s young billionaires are eager to engage in shaping industrial policy but are given little opportunity to do so – adding to a broader sense of disillusionment within this generation despite their commercial success.

CHANNEL NEWS ASIA

Headline: 150 days, 15 countries, 15,000 km: Student cycles from Suzhou to Liverpool

Published on: 21 July 2026

Summary: Channel News Asia reported on Luke Rimmer, a University of Liverpool exchange student at XJTLU, who set off from XJTLU’s Suzhou campus on 21 July 2026 to cycle approximately 15,000 kilometres back to Liverpool, retracing the ancient Silk Road westward across 15 countries over roughly 150 days, with plans to arrive in time for his graduation ceremony in December.

XJTLU held a send-off ceremony for Rimmer on 8 July, where Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, presented him with a bicycle on behalf of the University. The journey also symbolically connects XJTLU’s two parent institutions, with added significance following XJTLU’s receipt of the Freedom of the City of Liverpool, the city’s highest civic honour, in April 2026.

By Vionna Fiducia Theja
Edited by Xinmin Han