Universities

Founded in 2012, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen occupies a purpose-built campus in southern Shenzhen. It functions as an independent university while sharing the academic framework and educational philosophy of its namesake in Hong Kong. Undergraduate and postgraduate programmes span science, engineering, business, and humanities. Instruction is bilingual, and research activity connects closely with Shenzhen’s innovation landscape. The university maintains scholarly links to CUHK’s established traditions without replicating its physical or administrative structure.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), founded in 1972 in Hong Kong, is a major UGC-funded university focused on professional education and applied research across design, business, engineering, and related fields.

Founded in 1991, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology occupies a compact hillside campus on the Clear Water Bay Peninsula, where coastal views meet purpose-built academic spaces. It delivers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across four schools: Science, Engineering, Business and Management, and Humanities and Social Science. With a deliberately focused student and faculty population, HKUST encourages direct engagement and collaborative learning. Its academic culture prioritises interdisciplinary work, particularly in postgraduate study. The university’s relatively recent founding informs its streamlined structure and thematic concentration on science, technology, and management.

The University of Law, Hong Kong (ULAW) opened its international campus in 2019, offering legal and business education in a major finance and legal services hub.

The University of Nottingham Ningbo China is the first Sino-foreign university in China approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education. The University of Nottingham (UK) is described as among the world’s top 100 by leading league tables. Mission stated: “Academic Excellence in the Service of Global Citizenship”—combining Nottingham UK teaching and research strengths with China’s internationalization needs. Three faculties offer undergraduate and postgraduate (master’s and doctoral) degrees: Faculty of Social Sciences; Faculty of Arts and Humanities; Faculty of Science and Engineering. Eight divisions: Nottingham University Business School China; Division of International Studies; Division of International Communications; Division of English Studies; Division of Computer Science; Division of Sustainable Development; Division of Engineering; Centre for English Language Education (CELE). In its first five years of operation the university had four cohorts of master’s graduates (2006–2009) and two cohorts of bachelor’s graduates (2008–2009), with academic results described as comparable to Nottingham UK and high employment rates

The UWI China Institute of Information Technology (UWI-CIIT) is a collaborative initiative between The University of the West Indies and the Global Institute of Software Technology in Suzhou. Established in 2016, it delivers software engineering education and professional development programmes in English, primarily targeting students from the Caribbean and other regions. While administratively linked to UWI’s Barbados-based campus, UWI-CIIT operates in Suzhou and does not award standalone degrees; qualifications are conferred by The University of the West Indies. UWI is recognised by China’s Ministry of Education as an approved foreign university.

Tiangong University, established in 1912 in Tianjin, is a multidisciplinary institution with two campuses and around 2,000 international students. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in engineering, computer science, management, and other fields, many delivered in English. The university operates several academic schools and maintains a focus on applied learning across its curriculum. Its location in Tianjin—a major port city and industrial hub—supports close links between study and regional economic activity. Student numbers and programme scope reflect its long-standing role in technical and managerial education in northern China.

Tianjin Foreign Studies University (TFSU) focuses on Foreign Language & Literature, with supporting disciplines in Humanities, Economics, Administration & Management, Law, Education, Art, and Engineering. It has two campuses totaling 69.34 hectares: Machang Road campus (listed among the Ten Sites of Tianjin, with classical European-style buildings) and Binhai Campus in the university garden of Dagang District, Tianjin Binhai New Area (TBNA). Enrollment: over 10,000 full-time degree candidates including over 1,000 graduate students from 29 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions; international students from 48 countries. About 50% of teaching staff have studied or worked overseas (up to 90% in some programs). Each year about 100 international experts and foreign teachers are invited. TFSU has cooperative relations with about 100 universities and educational institutions in over 40 countries. It was among the first universities designated by Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) to train full-time Confucius Institute teachers. It has co-sponsored Confucius Institutes at Soonchunhyang University (South Korea), University of Lisbon (Portugal), University of Toulouse (France), Volgograd State Pedagogical University (Russia), Jorge Tadeo Lozano University (Colombia), and Kyiv State Linguistic University (Ukraine), and has hosted programs linked to Sejong School (South Korea) and the Goethe German Language Center (Germany) )

Tianjin Medical University (TMU) was founded on 16 June 1951 as the first medical institute approved by the State Council after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The first president was Professor Xianyi Zhu (endocrinology and medical education). TMU is a national “211 Project” key university. It focuses on research and education with medicine at the core and life science as a main support, aiming to be a multi-disciplinary medical university. Full-time students: 9,040 — 5,138 undergraduates, 401 PhD students, 2,381 master’s students, and 1,430 international students from 60 countries. It was among the first eight pilot medical universities for 8-year medical education and among the first 15 pilots for the seven-year medical program. It has 3 post-PhD research stations, 37 PhD authorizing units, 68 master’s degree authorizing units, 180 PhD supervisors, and 612 master’s supervisors. It passed Ministry of Education assessments for undergraduate and seven-year higher medical education with excellent results in 2002 and again in 2008

It was formed in June 2016 by merging Shanghai Lixin University of Commerce and Shanghai Finance University. Its roots go back to Lixin education founded by Dr. Pan Xulun in 1928. In 2022, the School of Business and Administration received five-year full AACSB accreditation. SLU has three campuses in Pudong, Songjiang, and Xuhui, covering more than 1,200 mu (about 800,000 square meters). It has more than 19,000 full-time students, including over 370 graduate students; 3 master’s degree programs and 40 undergraduate majors; more than 1,630 faculty and staff, including over 1,240 full-time teachers

Tianjin Polytechnic University (TJPU) is a state-run full-time university jointly established by the Ministry of Education and Tianjin Municipal Government. In 2003 it received outstanding marks in the Ministry of Education Undergraduate Program Evaluation. Its earliest departments date to 1912. It is a multidisciplinary teaching and research university offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in science and engineering, arts, liberal arts, management, economics, law, and languages. It has 16 schools, about 28,000 full-time students, 18 doctoral programs, and 98 master’s programs. There are about 1,600 full-time teachers, nearly 800 of them professors or associate professors, plus over 50 specially engaged academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences / Chinese Academy of Engineering and renowned foreign scholars as visiting or part-time professors. TJPU has international relations with more than 50 institutions in Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa, and about 300 international students. Research strengths noted include textile composite materials, hollow fiber membrane separation, special functional fiber materials, textile oiling agent, semiconductor lighting, and electromechanical equipment integration. It has over 60 research institutions in cooperation with enterprises such as Motian Membrane Science and Technology Company and the Functional Fiber Development Centre. Partner universities: more than 60 in more than 30 countries. Overseas students study Chinese language, textiles, fashion design, computer, accounting, art design, and related fields )

Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TUTCM), founded in 1958 in Tianjin, specialises in traditional Chinese medicine and related health sciences. Programmes combine classroom teaching with clinical practice pathways. International students enrol in degree and training options in Chinese medicine and allied fields.

Tongji University is a leading university directly under the Ministry of Education and is included in Project 211. Its history dates to 1907, when German doctor Erich Paulun established Tongji German Medical School; it was officially named a university in 1923 and became a national university in 1927, with science, engineering, medicine, arts, and law. After the 1952 discipline restructure, Tongji became a major engineering university strong in civil engineering. From 1978 it developed into a multi-disciplinary university oriented toward engineering. Today it is a comprehensive research university covering sciences, engineering, medicine, literature, arts, law, economics, management, philosophy, and pedagogy. International cooperation includes partners in Germany, France, the UK, the USA, Japan, Canada, Italy, Spain, Finland, and elsewhere. Government-approved units include Sino-German College for Graduate Study and Sino-German College of Applied Sciences; Sino-Italian Campus; Sino-French Institute of Engineering and Management with Paris Tech; Tongji–UNEP Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development; and Tongji–Australian Institute of Technology, among other international programs

Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (SIGS) is a public graduate education institution jointly established by Tsinghua University and the Shenzhen Municipal Government, supporting higher education reform and development of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. SIGS expands and integrates the Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University (established 2001) and the Tsinghua–Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI, established 2014)

It was formed in June 2016 by merging Shanghai Lixin University of Commerce and Shanghai Finance University. Its roots go back to Lixin education founded by Dr. Pan Xulun in 1928. In 2022, the School of Business and Administration received five-year full AACSB accreditation. SLU has three campuses in Pudong, Songjiang, and Xuhui, covering more than 1,200 mu (about 800,000 square meters). It has more than 19,000 full-time students, including over 370 graduate students; 3 master’s degree programs and 40 undergraduate majors; more than 1,630 faculty and staff, including over 1,240 full-time teachers

The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) is a Ministry of Education–approved higher education institution focused on graduate education. Its predecessor was the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences (GSCAS), founded in 1978 as China’s first graduate school with State Council approval. UCAS graduated China’s first doctoral student in science, first in engineering, first female doctoral student, and first student with double doctoral degrees. In 2014 it planned to begin recruiting undergraduates. Backed by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) research strengths, UCAS has four campuses in Beijing and five education centers outside Beijing, linked to 117 CAS institutes nationwide. It follows “unified enrollment, education management and degree conferment” and faculty–institute fusion in leadership, faculty, management, and cultivating systems. Core courses are taught mainly on Beijing campuses; scientific research is done primarily at institutes.

Founded in 1956 and located in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China focuses on electronic information science and technology as its academic core. It operates across three campuses—Qingshuihe, Shahe, and Jiulidi—covering 635 acres. The university offers programmes spanning engineering, science, management, and liberal arts, with over 3,400 faculty members, including more than 390 professors. Its library holds 4.847 million physical volumes and approximately 220 terabytes of digital resources. Around 32,000 students are enrolled, including 10,000 postgraduate researchers. Sports facilities include outdoor grounds, indoor gyms, tennis courts, and a swimming pool. Approximately 500 international students from over 30 countries study at UESTC alongside domestic peers.

The University of Hong Kong opened in 1912 as the territory’s first university, building on the foundation of the Hong Kong College of Medicine founded in 1887. Its main campus sits on a hillside in Pokfulam, offering views across the southern part of Hong Kong Island. Around 40,000 students study across ten faculties, including architecture, arts, business and economics, dentistry, education, engineering, law, medicine, science, and social sciences. As a public research university, HKU teaches most of its degree programmes in English and draws students from more than 40 countries. The academic structure supports both broad interdisciplinary engagement and focused study within traditional disciplines.

The University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) is in Chaoyang District, Beijing. Founded in 1951, it is a national key university under the Ministry of Education and part of Project 211. Since December 2010 it has been subordinate to both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Commerce. It is multidisciplinary, strong in economics, management, liberal arts, science, and law, with competitive fields such as international trade, law (international law), finance, business management, and foreign languages (business languages). It cooperates with over 200 universities and research institutions in more than 40 countries and regions, including the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Finland, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia. Staff: over 1,500, including 780 full-time teachers plus part-time teachers and foreign experts. Enrollment: more than 14,000 full-time students, including more than 3,000 international students from over 120 countries and regions; ranked No. It offers over 40 majors to overseas bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students, with more than 20 majors in economics, management, and law taught entirely in English )

Founded in 1951 and situated in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, the University of International Business and Economics operates under the dual oversight of China’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Commerce. It enrolls around 14,000 full-time students, with over 3,000 coming from outside China. The university organises its teaching and research across distinct schools—international trade, finance, law, foreign languages, and business administration—with a consistent emphasis on economics, management, law, and business-focused language studies. Many undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are taught fully in English. As a member of China’s Project 211, it contributes to national priorities in higher education development.

It focuses on applied talent cultivation and offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs, with the right to recommend postgraduates exempt from admission examinations. Jinan is the provincial capital (“city of springs”), near Mount Tai and the Yellow River; Shandong is described as China’s third-largest economic province and the home of Confucianism. The university has four campuses covering over 2.43 million square meters, 26 schools, and 3 post-doctoral research centers. Disciplines include Economics, Law, Education, Literature, History, Science, Technology, Management, and Art. Six disciplines, including Chemistry and Material Science, are in the ESI top 1%. It has cooperative relationships with 120 international counterparts in countries including the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. More than 4,000 international students have graduated from the university.

Established in 2004 in Ningbo, University of Nottingham Ningbo China is the first Sino-foreign university approved by China’s Ministry of Education. It functions as an integral part of the University of Nottingham’s global structure, with all degrees awarded under UK validation. The campus houses three faculties—Social Sciences; Arts and Humanities; and Science and Engineering—as well as eight academic divisions, including Nottingham University Business School China and the Centre for English Language Education. Programmes span undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels in fields such as computer science, engineering, international studies and sustainable development. Graduates have received degrees since 2006, with bachelor’s awards beginning in 2008. Teaching and research follow the academic standards of the UK institution, with emphasis on globally informed perspectives.

Founded in 1952 in Beijing, the University of Science and Technology Beijing emerged from a national reorganisation of higher education, consolidating metallurgy and materials expertise from six leading institutions. It is one of China’s key universities directly administered by the Ministry of Education, with a strong emphasis on engineering alongside programmes in science, management, humanities, economics, and law. The university hosts 13 schools and over 30,000 students, offering 48 undergraduate, 121 master’s, and 73 doctoral programmes. Its academic staff includes members of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and it maintains national laboratories, engineering research centres, and discipline-specific facilities focused on metallurgy, materials science, mechanical engineering, and mining. USTB supports international academic exchange through collaborations with around 80 overseas universities and research institutes.