The University of Glasgow has signed a partnership agreement with a major state-owned enterprise company in China to develop an international optoelectronics industry base in the Lingang area of Shanghai.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed by the university and the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation City Economic Development Co. Ltd and the Shanghai Shunmao Information Technology Co.

Shanghai Shunmao is a private company established to manage and commercialise some of the technology that will be developed by the new initiative.

Professor John Marsh, Professor of Optoelectronic Systems and Dean of the University of Glasgow-University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) Partnership, attended an inaugural event in Shanghai.

The agreement has led to the establishment of the Shanghai Lingang International Photonic Integrated Circuit Joint Laboratory (PIC Lab) which will foster collaboration between the University of Glasgow and its partners in Lingang.

The PIC Lab aims to accelerate the development and commercialisation of optoelectronic integrated chip technology, integrating multiple optical components on a single chip and packaging the chips with high-speed electronics to address the demand for high speed network connections for the next generation of the Internet.

Professor Marsh said: “The University of Glasgow is delighted to be working with our new partners to strengthen international links relating to optoelectronic devices and the development and integration of an optoelectronic integration platform and industry incubation base in Lingang.

“We shall also be working to create a Scottish platform. This is international recognition of Glasgow’s long term commitment to optical research.”