On April 9, 2015, the establishment of the Guangdong Technion was approved by the Ministry of Education of China.

Sponsored by the Li Ka Shing Foundation (LKSF) with a US$130 million grant, the establishment of the Guangdong Technion created the unprecedented cooperative relationship among Guangdong Government, Technion, and Shantou University.

The new institute will eventually grant Technion engineering degrees at all levels – Bachelor, Masters and PhD, and maintain the same high academic standards of education, research and innovation for which the Technion's Haifa campus is famous worldwide.

[6] The foundation ceremony of the Guangdong Technion was held on December 16, 2015, in the new gymnasium of Shantou University.

[8] The groundbreaking ceremony was led by former Israeli President Shimon Peres, Hong Kong business leader and philanthropist Li Ka-shing, Technion President Peretz Lavie, the Guangdong Technion Chancellor Li Jian'ge, the Guangdong Technion Vice Chancellor, Technion Distinguished Professor and Nobel Laureate Aaron Ciechanover, and Ofir Akunis, Israel's Minister of Science, Technology and Space.