China's Ministry of Education has approved a plan by the United States-based New York University (NYU) to open a separate, full degree-granting campus in this eastern municipality in the coming years.

Yu Lizhong, president of East China Normal University (ECNU), which is NYU's partner in establishing the NYU Shanghai campus, made the announcement at the ongoing municipal people's congress meeting on Wednesday.

ECNU was founded in October 1951 and is a key institution of higher learning directly under the Ministry of Education.

The NYU Shanghai campus will be China's first international university co-established by higher-learning institutes from the two countries, media reports said.

The NYU Shanghai campus will be located in the Pudong New Area's Lujiazui financial and trade zone. It will not only cultivate international talent but also boost international cooperation in finance, science and technology, Yu said.

And the new campus is expected to open as early as fall 2013. More than 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students from across the world will be admitted every academic year. Chinese students will comprise the majority, Shanghai media quoted Yu as saying.

"Detailed information and the tuition fees for foreign and Chinese students will be announced in March," a university official surnamed Jiang told China Daily on Thursday.

The NYU Shanghai campus will be a world-class university. It will offer scholarships to excellent students, with preference given to those from underprivileged families, Yu said.

Undergraduate students will spend at least one semester overseas to help them develop global outlooks.

The new campus will have NYU instructors and will also recruit lecturers from around the world, media reported. The city has spared no effort in recent years to become an international education exchange center.

The UK-based University of Nottingham is also planning to open a Shanghai campus. The project is still in discussions, the city's education authorities said.

In addition, construction will begin within five years on the Shanghai Zizhu International Education Zone. Officials said negotiations to attract internationally prestigious colleges and universities, such as Ivy League schools, to set up campuses in the zone are progressing smoothly.