Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) is a key university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of China and is one of the oldest universities in China.

          

In the late 19thcentury, the last feudal government of China failed in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, leading the whole nation into a great crisis. At that time, Sheng Xuanhuai, a famous industrialist and educator in modern China, established Nanyang College in 1986 at Shanghai, with the purpose of “promoting education for talents development so as to realize the nation’s rejuvenation”. In 1921, the college changed its name to Jiaotong University. By adhering to the university mission of “learning practical skills, developing industries”, the university stressed the pursuit of “culturing with the first-class code of conduct, pursuing for first-class learning, developing first-class enterprise, and cultivating the first-class talents”. Till 1920s to 1930s, it had developed to be a university with “science, engineering and management” as its distinctive disciplines and had been reputed as the “oriental MIT”. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, a part of the university moved to the foreign Settlements in Shanghai and the other part moved to Chongqing in order to continue its education. To resist the aggression, many students quit their study and joined in the army. Before new China was founded in 1949, students and teachers had engaged in democratic revolution for establishing an independent nation, the university has been therefore honored as the “fortress of democracy”.

          

In 1956, the main part of Jiaotong University was relocated to Xi'an according to the decision of the State Council, and this relocated part of Jiaotong University was later officially renamed Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1959. In the same year, it was listed in one of the 16 key universities in China. In 2000, approved by the State Council, the former Xi'an Medical University and former Shaanxi Institute of Finance and Economics were merged with Xi'an Jiaotong University.  

          

XJTU, as one of the first batch of the universities in China, was supported by the central Government at the seventh and eighth five-year plan, as well as China's “Project 211” and “Project 985” to develop into a world-class university.Now, Xi’an Jiaotong University is on the List of World-class Universities and First-class Disciplines (abbreviated as “Double First-class”) released in 2017 by the Ministry of Education of China, as a Double First-class university in Category A, which means that the government will support it financially to develop into a world-class university, and its eight disciplines into the first-class level in the world.    

          

Currently, XJTU is a comprehensive research university with 10 major categories of disciplines: science, engineering, medicine, economics, management, humanities, law, philosophy, education and art, and 26 schools (departments/centers), 9 university colleges for undergraduates and 20 affiliated teaching hospitals. The University has faculty and staff of 6,137 people including 3,081 full-time teachers, of whom 45 are members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and/or the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 6 Nationally Distinguished Teachers, 93 distinguished professors in the Yangtze River Scholars Program, 42 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 23 National Experts with Outstanding Contributions, 29 scholars who are enlisted in the National Hundred, Thousanda nd Ten Thousand Talents Program and the New Century National Hundred, Thousand, and Ten Thousand Talents Program, 29 scholars who won the support as Innovation Team leaders, 234 scholars who won the Support Program for New Century Excellent Talents administered by the Ministry of Education, and 493 experts who have made outstanding contributions to the nation and receive the State Council Special Allowance.

         

XJTU now has 40,346 full-time students, including 19,629 postgraduates. The university offers 87 undergraduate majors, and there are 31 first-level disciplines authorized to confer doctorate degrees, and there are 45 first-level disciplines authorized to confer master’s degrees, and 2 disciplines authorized to confer professional doctorate degrees, 20 disciplines authorized to confer professional master’sd egrees, and there are 25 post-doctoral research stations. There are 8 state-level key first-level disciplines, 5 national key laboratories, 7 National Engineering Technology Research Centers, 3 National Engineering Laboratories, 5 International Science & Technology Cooperation Base, 1 Collaborative Innovation Center (2011), and 115 key research facilities at the provincial and ministerial level. And there are Western China Energy Research Institute, Western China Institute of Quality Science and Technology.

         

According to the data released by the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) in May, 2019, 14 disciplines of XJTU are ranked top 1/100 among international academic institutions, 2 disciplines are ranked 1/1000 and the discipline of engineering is  ranked top 1/10000 on the ESI list.

         

During its more than 120-year history, Xi'an Jiaotong University has upheld the principles of developing education to make China strong, pioneering with painstaking efforts, advocating virtues and pragmatism, seeking meticulous scholarship, and pursuing excellence. It has developed such fine traditions as loving China and the University, seeking after the truth, working steadily and conscientiously, hard-working and plain-living, and has formed a school running characteristic of higher starting point, more solid foundation, stricter requirements, and more emphasis inpractice. XJTU's outstanding alumni include Zhang Yuanji, Cai Yuanpei, Cai E, Huang Yanpei, Zou Taofen, Lu Dingyi, Qian Xuesen, Zhang Guangdou, Wu Wenjun, Jiang Zemin, Hou Zonglian, etc.

         

Since being relocated to Xi'an, the University has turned out 39 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and/or the Chinese Academy of Engineering, including Lin Zonghu, Cai Ruixian, Cao Chunxiao, Jiang Xinsong, Li Helin, Ye Shangfu, Li Peicheng, Yao Mu, Chen Guoliang, Lei Qingquan, Xiong Youlun, Tu Mingjing, Li Bohu, Su Junhong, Sun Jiulin, Chen Guilin, Cheng Shijie, Sun Caixin, Han Qide, Tan Tieniu, Cong Bin, Hao Yue, Chen Zhengqing, Jiang Song, Fang Jiancheng, Wang Huaming, Tang Guangfu, Guo Wanlin, etc., and overseas academicians such as the  member of the National Academy of Engineering of the United States and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, including Gao Huajian, Suo Zhigang, Jiang Jing, Liu Yilu, Liang Ping and Chen Zhangxing, etc.

        

XJTU has graduated 270,000 students since 1956 with a good reputation in the past 63 years, and there are a number of famous XJTU alumni who have provided great intellectual support for the development of Western China. These alumni include Chen Huibo, Wen Xisen, Ma Dexiu, Lei Jufang, Cui Dianguo, Sun Laiyan, Zhang Guobao, Jia Quanxi, Wang Jue, Lian Weiliang, Wen Shugang, Wang Jianping, Jiang Xiaojuan, Pu Zhongjie, Yu Jie, Zhang Yue’e, Gui Shengyue, Lu Lei, Zhang Yalin, Zhao Huan, Qiu Jianping, Li Renchao, Zhou Hongyi, Chen Xi, Liu Guangbin, Zheng Haitao, Lu Yiming, Fan Deng, Liu Liehong, Wang Dongfeng, Liu Qi, Guo Wenjun, Jing Haipeng, Chen Dong, etc.

        

XJTU has fully implemented the ideas of "cultivation in conduct, impartation of knowledge, training inabilities, innovation in thinking" in the cultivation of talents, and established the system of "general education plus professional education with wide-ranged knowledge" and "Undergraduate - Postgraduate -Doctoral Students" through-type talent cultivation mode.

        

In 2006, XJTU took the lead among Chinese universities to create a system of university colleges modeled on the traditional Chinese academy of learning. This twin-college system is aimed at giving our students the best possible chance for success. In 2017, XJTU set upthe Undergraduate School to carry out the three-level administrative mode of "University - School - Department", and set up a management system for undergraduate talents training of "collaboration, connection, coordination between teaching and educating." Based on the Qian Xuesen School, XJTU applies Qian Xuesen's spirit and wisdom to teaching practice to explore new mechanism for cultivating innovative talents, and has established top talent training trial classes including the “Exceptionally Gifted Juveniles Class”, "Qian Xuesen Pilot Class", "Zonglian Pilot Class", "Pilot Classes for Talents of Basic Subject" and “AI Pilot  Class”, etc. XJTU has received endorsement from students and parents for its unique educational model, its favorable study environment, excellent teachers and substantial teaching resources, and its positive satisfactory teaching results.

        

So far, XJTU has won 78 national-level awards for excellence in teaching, upgraded 35 courses to be the National-level Quality Courses, 23 to be the National-level Quality-Resources-Sharing Courses, 11 National-level Video Open Courses, 31 National-level Experimental Teaching Demonstration Centers, and 9 National-level Teaching Teams. To date, 27 XJTU student dissertations have won an award as “China's 100 best doctoral dissertations”; another 46 have been nominated for that award.

        

Research in science and technology at XJTU is directed primarily at satisfying the country’s most important needs, forging into international frontiers, enhancing the technological competitiveness of China. Since Westward Relocation, XJTU has been dedicated in taking the lead in scientific research and has achieved several “firsts” in certain fields at home and abroad, including the establishment of the first Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of China, the first university establishing majors of Steam Turbine, Automobile Manufacture, Refrigeration and Cryogenic Technology and Displacement Compressor, the invention of the first large All Purpose Electronic Computerand the first digital processor chip of China, and the institutional affiliation of researchers who first proposed the twin-shear unified strength theory with the  proprietary intellectual property rights  in the world, etc.

        

Since its Relocation, XJTU has made more than 29,000 research achievements, of which 237 won the National Natural Science Award, the National Technological Innovation Award and the National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology, bringing about over one hundred billion benefits to the society. XJTU relies on its strength in key disciplines and on its unique educational model, with its emphasis in the integration of production, study and research. In addition, in cooperation with the government and with large and mid-sized enterprises, it has established research and development parks whose aim is to help solve the key technological problems facing industries and to strengthen the contributions of science and technology to the regional economy and of local social development.

        

Since 2000, researchers from XJTU have led 21 research projects supported by “Program 973”, and 5,343 research projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Its total number of basic research projects and grants obtained rank XJTU among top Chinese universities. Researchers from XJTU have undertaken 30 major projects supported by the National Social Science Foundation, and have won 25 Excellent Research Achievement Awards (Humanities and Social Sciences) of the Ministry of Education. A total of 11 high-end think tanks have been established collaborated with the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, and a large number of research results have been adopted.

        

XJTU advocates "patriotism, collectivism, heroism and optimism", the mission culture that aims to give service to the country, the culture that pursues excellence, the culture that pioneers in innovation and blaze new trails, the culture that teams and collaborates with each other. XJTU owns a National-level Base for Cultural Education and boasts 230 student organizations. It sponsors a rich and varied set of activities in science and technology, literature and the arts, and sports. “Talking Freely about the World”, “Siyuan Lectures”, “Learning Forum” and “IHarbour Lectures” have become well-known events from which students and staff can expand their field of horizon. In recent years, XJTU students have won awards in a wide range of competitions, including SAE Aero Design Competition, VEX Robotics Competition, International Mathematical Contest in Modeling, the World Mandarin Debating Championship, International English Speech Contest, the World Architecture Design Competition for University Students, Asian Area Selection Match for ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, China College Students’ “Internet plus” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, “Challenge Cup” National University Student Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Work Competition, “Create in the Youth Years” China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition, Contemporary Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling, National College Mechanical Innovation Competition, China University Robot Competition (Robocon), China Undergraduate Physics Tournament, National Aviation and Space Model (research- type) Tournament, National University Student Social Practiceand Science Contest on Energy Saving & Emission Reduction, etc.

       

Xi'an Jiaotong University has established extensive internationalities. Since 2000, 25 winners of the Nobel Prize and the Fields Prize and over 2,000 foreign professors have visited XJTU and gave lectures. XJTU also exchanged or established cooperation relations with over 20,000 scholars, CEOs, and high-level government officials from around the world or developed other kinds of collaborative projects. More than 28,000 XJTU teachers and students have been abroad to visit, study, do research, or participate in degree programs, and over 2,000 faculty members, and researchers have traveled abroad for conferences. XJTU has had relations and exchanges with 300 universities and research institutions in 44 countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France,Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Korea.

       

In 2018, there are 2,800 foreign students from over 136 countries studying at XJTU.

           

Xi'an Jiaotong University has four campuses: the Xingqing campus, the Yanta campus, the Qujiang campus and the Western China Science & Technology Innovation Harbor (IHarbour), covering a total area of about 5.33 million square meters and a total construction area of 4.2 million square meters. The “Qian Xuesen Library,” named after alumnus Qian Xuesen, which is authorized by CPC Publicity Department, is located on the Xingqing campus, covering nearly 40 thousand square meters and has 3,518 reading seats. The library collections include 5.63 million books and over 10,000 newspapers and periodicals, of which over 1,500 types are current periodicals. The library has also been improving its digital collections, and has introduced 118 electronic resources at home and abroad and the total number of electronic resources amounts to 320. Its holdings now include 110,000 electronic periodicals and 1.6 million e-books in Chinese and foreign languages.

           

The Western China Science &Technology Innovation Harbor, aiming to “contribute to national missions, establish a world science and education highland, serve to the development of Shaanxi Province, innovate drive platform and provide demonstration of being a wisdom uni-town”, has established 8 major research platforms, 25 institutes and more than 100 scientific research bases to serve the major scientific research in China including interdisciplinary research, military and civilian integration research, and other types of research. The IHarbor will better serve the cultivation of students' creativity, the commercialization and incubation of scientific and technological achievements and the development of economy and society. Here we can actively explore new models, new forms and new experiences of the integration of modern universities and social development in twenty-first Century.

           

The Silk Road University Alliance, initiated by XJTU, has contributed to the common development of human civilization and the opening and cooperation of higher education. It has attracted more than 151 universities from 38 countries and regions, and has made efforts to create a group of high-end think tanks, such as Collaborative Innovation Center of Pilot Reform Exploration and Assessment, Collaborative Innovation Research Center of the Silk Road Economic Belt, and so on, aiming at serving the social development and national rejuvenation, implementing the strategy of enhancing international competitiveness and promoting regional internationalization with educational internationalization.

           

On December 11, 2017, President Xi Jinping made important remarks about the letter to him from the 15 professors of Xi'an Jiaotong University who had moved to Xi’an from eastern China decades ago, and paid high tribute to the people who responded to the call of the central government and devoted themselves to the construction of the Northwestern China. He hoped that the teachers and students of XJTU would inherit the "Western Relocation Spirit" and contribute wisdom and energies to the development of Western China and the construction of the country.

           

In the new era, Xi'an JiaotongUniversity studies deeply and implements Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, focuses on the fundamental task of education, namely “upholding high moral values in student cultivation”, insists on the orientation of "taking root in western China, giving service to the country, and striving to be the world-class," pushing forward the comprehensive reform, "double first-class" construction, and concrete development with firm confidence, heroic spirit and great efforts, and striveto write a new chapter of the university development in the new era.  

           

Motto: Study assiduously, resolve to succeed, act decisively, and manage affairs with magnanimity.

      

Orientation: Taking root in western China, giving service to the country, and striving to be world-class.

                

Western Relocation Spirit：Keep in mind the overall situation, work selflessly for our country, carry forward traditional culture, pioneer with painstaking efforts.

                

Mission: Xi'an Jiaotong University is committed to cultivating outstanding students who advocate pursue science, make practical innovations, work hard and steadily, and have noble-minded virtues and a strong sense of social responsibility, and to preserving, generating, and disseminating knowledge so as to contributeto science and technology advances, social development, and human civilizationin China and the world at large.

                

Vision: XJTU works hard to take the lead in student education, scientific research, and social service to achieve preeminence. By the middle of 21st century, we aim to make XJTU a world-class university, where prestigious teachers gather, talented students are charmed to attend, talents graduated from it in large numbers, the international influence is considerable.