Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (西交利物浦大学, XJTLU) is an independent university based in Suzhou, China, resulting from a partnership between the universities of Liverpool and Xi’an Jiaotong. It is the world's first Sino-British university between research led universities, and is recognised by the Chinese Ministry of Education as a "not for profit" educational institution. XJTLU is situated in Suzhou Industrial Park in the eastern part of Suzhou in the province of Jiangsu, 70 kilometres west of Shanghai. The university is 12 km from downtown Suzhou which can take up to 45 minutes by bus, or 30 minutes by taxi. Suzhou is a historic and scenic city, with 2500 years of history and culture, Suzhou has sustained an average annual economic growth-rate of more than 15 per cent since the beginning of China's "reform and opening up" period, with local GDP ranked the fourth largest in China, just after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) is the location for more than 2100 international companies, of which 53 are Fortune 500 companies, including Siemens, L'Oréal and Nokia. SIP is home to nearly ten thousand expatriate workers from more than 20 countries.