Anhui Medical University

Founded in Beijing in 1958 and relocated to Hefei in the early 1970s, the University of Science and Technology of China operates under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its academic structure integrates teaching with CAS research institutes across disciplines including mathematics, physics, chemistry, and nuclear science and technology. The university hosts 20 schools and 30 departments, with additional facilities in Nanjing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenyang, and Changchun. It maintains over 50 laboratories and research centres, among them the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale. With around 25,000 students—including more than 17,000 postgraduates—and nearly 2,000 faculty members, USTC delivers undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programmes. It was the first institution in China to establish a graduate school, doing so in 1978.

Hefei University of Technology (HFUT) is in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province. It is a national key university under the Ministry of Education. Founded in 1945, it is part of Project 211 and a Program 985 innovation platform, and is included in the national “Double First Class” plan. HFUT is mainly an engineering-focused comprehensive university. Eleven disciplines are in the top 1% of ESI global rankings: Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, Computer Science, Agricultural Science, Earth Sciences, Environment/Ecology, Social Sciences (General), Biology & Biochemistry, Physics, and Plant & Animal Science. Engineering science ranks in the top 1‰. There are about 33,200 undergraduate and 16,200 graduate students. The university motto is “pursuing virtue and knowledge, seeking truth and innovation.” It offers 20 first-level doctoral disciplines, 38 first-level master’s disciplines, and 84 undergraduate majors. Faculty include academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chinese Academy of Sciences, accredited professors, National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation scholars, and national top-teacher award winners.

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

Established in 1898 in Beijing, Peking University is China’s first national university. Its campus hosts five faculties—Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences, Medicine, and Information and Engineering—alongside 47 colleges and departments. The university offers over one hundred undergraduate programmes and more than five hundred graduate and doctoral programmes. With around 34,000 students including nearly 2,400 international learners from 80 countries, its academic community is both large and diverse. The teaching staff includes over 5,800 full-time faculty members, among them more than 1,700 professors and over 60 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. Research infrastructure includes 11 national key laboratories, 46 state key laboratories, and a library holding 7.7 million volumes—the largest university library in Asia.

Zhejiang University, founded in 1897 in Hangzhou, is one of China’s leading comprehensive research universities. Teaching and research span science, engineering, medicine, humanities, and social sciences. International students study across a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Founded in 1896, Shanghai Jiao Tong University is one of China’s oldest universities and is based in Shanghai’s Minhang and Xuhui districts. It comprises 28 schools and departments, offering 64 undergraduate programmes across nine disciplinary areas including engineering, medicine, science, and management. The university hosts over 44,000 students, including nearly 6,000 international learners, and employs more than 2,800 full-time academic staff. Its research infrastructure includes eight state key laboratories and multiple national engineering research centres. SJTU awards degrees at bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels across a broad range of disciplines, with particular depth in engineering and the natural sciences. The university operates several affiliated hospitals and maintains close ties with Shanghai’s municipal government and national education authorities.