South China University of Technology is a major public research university in China. It is located in the Tianhe District and Panyu District of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, China. Formerly known as the South China Institute of Technology, it was established in 1952, through a reorganization process that unified the engineering schools and departments of major universities from five provinces in central and Southern China, including the former National Sun Yat-sen University, Lingnan University, Hunan University, Guangxi University, South China Joint University, and four others.