An eight-member Chinese advance technical team is in the country to carry on detail discussions with the Liberian government and authorities of the University of Liberia concerning China's assistance and reconstruction package to the University of Liberia.

In an acquaintance meeting yesterday in the conference room of the Cassell building on the Main Campus of the University of Liberia, the president, Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh welcomed the team and said the entire UL Family was very much excited by the visit of the Chinese Technical Team.

According to a UL Public Service Release, Dr. Conteh told the team that the university was badly destroyed during the years of civil conflict. "We are now rebuilding the institution," he said. He noted that the university, being a larger concentration of human resources, was now up to the task of trying to respond effectively to national problems.

Giving a statistical outlook of the University, Dr. Conteh informed the team that the University of Liberia has three campuses; namely, the Main, Medical and Fendall with land acres of 27, 5and 9,000 respectively. UL has a teeming student population of 15,000 and 500 faculty members most of whom are Liberians.

Dr. Conteh who described the visit as very important in the history of the University, disclosed that the Chinese Government has agreed to construct an engineering, soil testing and computer laboratories at Fendall. He said the Chinese Embassy has already been furnished with detail plan including drawings for the project. He requested the team to give a work plan to enable their UL counterparts work effectively with them.

For his part, the head of the team, Mr. Liu Shaokai, speaking through an interpreter said the team's visit is a "fruit of President Sirleaf’s recent visit to China.” Mr. Shaokai who is the Vice President and Senior Engineer at the Architecture Engineering Design and Research Institute of China, asked for cooperation and understanding to enable his team closely collaborate with their Liberian counterparts.

The eight-man advance Technical Team, which is comprised of Civil, Electrical, Geological and Architectural Engineers among others, will continue detail discussions on how to carry out a survey of Fendall during their 15-day stay in the country.

In another development, the University of Liberia has received one hundred computers from the Liberia Development Fund. The computers will assist the Administration to entirely computerize the record section as well as other departments.