List of universities and colleges in China

List of universities and colleges in China
There are many higher education institutions in China.
By September 2021, there were 3,012 colleges and universities, with over 40 million students enrolled in mainland China, and 156 colleges in the ROC free area. More than 40 million Chinese students graduated from university from 2016 to 2020. Corresponding with the merging of many public universities, has been the rapid expansion of the private sector in mainland China since 1990s. Although private university enrollments are not clear, one report listed that in 2006 private universities accounted for approximately 6%, or about 1.3 million, of the 20 million students enrolled in formal higher education in China. The quality of universities and higher education in China is internationally recognized as China has established educational cooperation and exchanges with 188 countries and regions and 46 major international organizations, and signed agreements with 54 countries such as the United States, British, Australia and Germany on mutual recognition of higher education qualifications and academic degrees.
China has the world's second-highest number of top universities (the highest in Asia & Oceania region). In 2017, China had the highest number of scientific publications. As of 2022, China had the largest number of universities (247) including in the CWTS Leiden Ranking edition. More than 2,500 universities in China are included in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. Regardless of a variety of rankings about universities in China, the Ministry of Education of China does not advocate or recognize any rankings conducted.
To improve and enhance the quality of higher education institutions in the country, the central government of China initiated multiple higher education development and sponsorship schemes, most notably Project 211 in 1995, Project 985 in 1998, and the Double First Class University Plan in 2017.
List by regions
Municipalities
Provinces
Autonomous regions
Outside Mainland
Earliest universities
Tianjin University, established in 1895, is the oldest university in China. The university was established in October 1895 as Imperial Tientsin University by a royal charter of the Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty with Sheng Xuanhuai as its first president and later renamed Peiyang University. It was the first government-run university in modern China where western science and technology was its main focus. In 1951, followed by an order of the Chinese Communist government, the university was renamed Tianjin University and became one of the largest multidisciplinary engineering universities in China and one of the first 16 national key universities accredited by the nation in 1959.
Peking University, established in 1898, is the second oldest university in China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 in Beijing as a replacement of the ancient Guozijian, the national central institute of learning in China's traditional educational system in the past thousands of years. Three years earlier, Sheng Xuanhuai submitted a memorial to Guangxu Emperor to request for approval to set up a modern higher education institution in Tianjin. After approval on 2 October 1895, Peiyang Western Study School was founded by him and American educator Charles Daniel Tenney and later developed to Peiyang University. In 1896, Sheng Xuanhuai delivered his new memorials to Guangxu Emperor to make a suggestion that two official modern higher education institutions should be established in Beijing/Tangshan and Shanghai. In the same year, he founded Nanyang Public School in Shanghai by an imperial edict issued by Guangxu Emperor. The institution initially included an elementary school, secondary school, college, and a normal school. Later the institution changed its name to Jiao Tong University (also known as Chiao Tung University). In the 1930s, the university often referred itself as "MIT in the East" due to its reputation of nurturing top engineers and scientists. In the 1950s, part of this university was moved to Xi'an, Shaanxi, and was established as Xi'an Jiaotong University; the part of the university remaining in Shanghai was renamed Shanghai Jiao Tong University. These two universities have developed independently since then, along with the original Beijing Jiaotong University.
See also
Types of universities and colleges in China
Higher education in China
Project 211
Project 985
Plan 111
Double First Class University Plan
References
Further reading
National Colleges and Universities List (1909 institutions in total as of 18-May-2007, Location, authority and level are also given)
List of Chinese Higher Education Institutions — Ministry of Education
Universities
China
China
Educational organizations based in China