Shaoxing University | Chinese Universities

Shaoxing University is a comprehensive, full-time institution of higher education approved by the Ministry of Education, located in Shaoxing, a city renowned for its history and culture. The university’s history traces back to the Shanhui Junior Normal School, founded in 1909, where Lu Xun once served as supervisor (principal). In 1996, Shaoxing Normal College and Shaoxing Higher Vocational College merged to establish Shaoxing University of Arts and Sciences. In 2000, Shaoxing Health School, Shangyu Normal School, and Shaoxing Urban and Rural Construction Workers’ Secondary Vocational School were successively incorporated into the university. In 2005, the university successfully passed the Ministry of Education’s evaluation of undergraduate teaching quality with excellent results. In 2013, it was approved by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council as an institution authorized to confer master’s degrees. In December 2022, it was approved by the Zhejiang Provincial Academic Degrees Committee as a candidate institution for the conferral of doctoral degrees.

The university comprises the Main Campus (Hedong, Hexī, and Nanshan), as well as campuses in Lanting, Shangyu, and Songliuling, covering a total area of 2,493.71 mu (approximately 166.25 hectares) with a total floor area of 763,300 square meters. The total value of teaching and research equipment amounts to 684 million yuan. The library holds a collection of 2,328,800 printed books, approximately 1,385,700 e-books, 3,105,200 issues of various Chinese and foreign electronic journals, and 53 databases. The university comprises 16 secondary colleges. It recruits students from 26 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across the country, as well as from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and currently has over 19,000 full-time students. The university also operates one directly affiliated hospital.

The university fully implements the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, focusing on cultivating high-quality, application-oriented talents with a strong sense of social responsibility, a robust spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, and practical capabilities. The university currently offers 61 undergraduate programs spanning ten major disciplinary categories. It boasts 4 national-level first-class major construction programs, 3 national-level distinctive majors, 12 provincial-level first-class major construction programs, and 23 provincial-level key (advantageous, distinctive) majors. Additionally, it has 4 provincial-level joint postgraduate training bases, 6 provincial-level key experimental teaching demonstration centers, 8 provincial-level experimental teaching demonstration centers, 7 provincial-level off-campus practice bases for undergraduates, and 2 provincial-level studios for distinguished teachers in ideological and political education. In the most recent two rounds of teaching achievement awards, the university has received 2 National First-Class Teaching Achievement Awards, 1 Provincial Special Prize, 3 Provincial First-Class Awards, and 11 Provincial Second-Class Awards. It has also received 1 Second-Class Award in the First National Textbook Development Awards and 1 First-Class Award in the Third National University Teachers’ Teaching Innovation Competition. The university is a National Outstanding Base for Popularizing Humanities and Social Sciences, a second-batch demonstration institution for university English teaching reform, a pilot institution for applied education in Zhejiang Province, a pilot unit for the comprehensive “Three-Pronged Education” reform in Zhejiang Province, a Zhejiang Provincial Innovative Classroom Teaching Institution, one of Zhejiang Province’s first demonstration schools for curriculum-based ideological and political education, and one of Zhejiang Province’s first demonstration research centers for curriculum-based ideological and political education. one of Zhejiang Province’s first pilot institutions for the “1+X” Certificate System; a Zhejiang Provincial Teacher Education Base; a Zhejiang Provincial Key Teacher Training Base; one of Zhejiang Province’s first pilot units for university cultural campus development; a Zhejiang Provincial Calligraphy Education Base for International Students; a Calligraphy Creation Base of the Zhejiang Calligraphers Association; a Zhejiang Provincial College Student Entrepreneurship Demonstration Base; one of Zhejiang Province’s first provincial-level entrepreneurship training demonstration bases; a Zhejiang Provincial-level Maker Space; one of Zhejiang Province’s first collaborative training innovation bases for foreign-related legal professionals; and one of Zhejiang Province’s first language and script promotion bases. The Fengzejiang Lecture Hall, the “Love Pledge” for graduates, and the Excellence Scholarship selection are recognized as outstanding campus cultural brands among universities nationwide. The college system reform and the “Civilized Dormitory” initiative have twice won first prize for outstanding achievements and innovative achievements in national university student dormitory work; one case was selected as a model case for university student mental health education guidance by the Ministry of Education for the 2025 academic year; The “one-stop” comprehensive management model for student communities received an “A” rating in the Ministry of Education’s national online evaluation of ideological and political work in higher education institutions, and Yangming College was selected for the National College Alliance. The university’s students have repeatedly won first prizes in national academic competitions, with overall rankings placing it among the top institutions of its kind in the province. Graduates are highly regarded by society; the initial employment rate for graduates over the past five cohorts has remained around 95%, and employer satisfaction surveys one year after graduation rank the university among the top in the province.

The university prioritizes discipline development as its leading strategy, actively promotes quality-oriented development and collaborative innovation, and comprehensively enhances its research capabilities and capacity for social service. It offers 29 master’s degree programs, including 10 master’s programs in first-level disciplines and 19 professional master’s programs; it has 6 provincial-level first-class disciplines; Five disciplines—Engineering, Chemistry, Environmental Science/Ecology, Computer Science, and Materials Science—rank in the top 1% globally in the ESI international subject rankings. The university hosts one national-level research platform—the National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Mining and Equipment for Deep Metal Deposits—as well as 22 provincial and ministerial-level research platforms, including the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Rock Mechanics and Geological Hazards and the first batch of National Bases for the Inheritance of Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture in General Higher Education Institutions designated by the Ministry of Education. The university has established 5 branch centers of national key laboratories and engineering research centers through collaborative partnerships. It has co-founded a calligraphy base with the Ministry of Education’s Center for Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange and established the Zhejiang Technology Transfer Center in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain, actively serving regional innovation and industrial transformation and upgrading. The university has won one Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Invention Award as the lead institution. Over the past five years, faculty members have received a total of 89 provincial, ministerial, or higher-level awards for scientific research achievements.

The university actively implements a talent-driven strategy as its top priority, adhering to a combination of recruitment and cultivation. The structure of the faculty has been optimized, and its overall quality continues to improve. Currently, there are nearly 2,000 faculty and staff members, including over 600 full-time faculty with senior professional titles and over 800 faculty members holding doctoral degrees. The university boasts 52 faculty members recognized at the provincial, ministerial, or higher levels, including a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Distinguished Professors under the Ministry of Education’s Changjiang Scholars Program, recipients of the National Special Support Program for Teaching Masters, awardees of the Zhejiang Top Talent Project, recipients of the National Excellent Youth Fund, recipients of the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent Talents Support Program, Zhejiang Provincial Leading Talents, and recipients of the Zhejiang Provincial Outstanding Youth Fund. Among them, 26 are recognized at the national level. The university has 1 provincial-level key science and technology innovation team (collaborative), 2 provincial-level high-level innovation teams in higher education, 4 provincial-level outstanding teaching teams, 3 National Outstanding Teachers, 3 Provincial Teaching Masters, and 8 Provincial Newcomers to the Teaching Profession.