Foreign Teaching Materials Center at South China University of Technology (SCUT)

The Foreign Teaching Materials Centers, established by China’s Ministry of Education (MOE), are a national network of specialized resource centers based in university libraries. Their mission is to systematically introduce high-quality foreign textbooks and teaching references and other academic materials from world-renowned universities. The MOE has now established 12 foreign teaching materials centers, serving as shared resource bases  across disciplines, including science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, and management, supporting higher education institutions nationwide.

South China University of Technology (SCUT) has been a member of this MOE network since 1985. Our center specializes in collecting materials in chemical engineering, while also maintaining resources in other fields. After more than three decades of development, we have built a collection of over 6,000 foreign textbooks and reference works in chemistry and chemical engineering. Updates on new acquisitions and book reviews are available on theSCUT Foreign Teaching Materials Center website.

The center’s resources are accessible to faculty and students from universities across China. Services include: on-site reading, partial copying (within copyright limits), document delivery, etc.

In response to the growing demand for digital resources, the MOE Foreign Teaching Materials Centers have launched a collaborative E-Textbook Platform. This initiative, led by Tsinghua University with joint procurement by all 12 centers and operated in partnership with the China Educational Publications Import & Export Corporation (CEPIEC), provides access to nearly 10,000 original e-textbooks and references.This platform represents a pioneering effort in China, utilizing Digital Rights Management (DRM) to enable local storage and access to licensed digital content.

Primary Access Platform:

iTextbook Platform (CEPIEC):http://www.itextbook.cn/

Welcome to theForeign Teaching Materials Center at South China University of Technology!

National Foreign Teaching Materials Centres

The following list details the 13 Foreign Teaching Materials Centres under the Ministry of Education of China, their host universities, and respective subject specialisations.

Electronic Textbooks Collection

The South China University of Technology (SCUT) Library functions as one of the Foreign Teaching Materials Centers under the Ministry of Education of China. We provide faculty and students with online access to an extensive collection of electronic textbooks from numerous prestigious international publishers.

The table below summarizes the currently available resources at the Center, including publishers, number of titles, disciplines, and access platforms.

Note: Access to the iTextbook Platform (CEPIEC) and ProQuest Ebook Central is authenticated via campus IP address.  

On Campus: Connect directly.

Off Campus: Use the library's VPN service to gain access.

Key Features of the iTextbook Platform (CEPIEC)

Continued access to subscribed titles is guaranteed.

Multiple users can access the same resource simultaneously.

It is recommended to use mainstream browsers such as IE8 or above, Chrome, Firefox, and 360 Browser.

The platform reader needs to be downloaded.

Online reading is available (users can open and browse electronic textbooks online in real time).

Offline reading is available (offline 'borrowing' is implemented within the scope of Digital Rights Management (DRM) rules). Users can download electronic textbooks to local devices for reading. However, based on the China Educational Publications Import & Export Corporation (CEBIE) DRM system, downloading is a 'borrowing' behavior, and expired files will automatically become invalid. Additionally, usage is subject to DRM rules: each download of a single e-book is valid for no more than 40 days, and users can log in to the platform again to re-download it before expiration.

If you encounter any problems during access, please contact Teacher Huang.Tel: 87113270 Email: huangjie@scut.edu.cn