Sichuan University

Founded in 1896, Southwest Jiaotong University is among China’s earliest institutions of higher learning. Its origins lie in railway engineering education, and it has evolved through several historical names including Imperial Chinese Railway College and Tangshan Jiaotong University. Today, the university operates across three campuses in Chengdu and the Emei Mountain Scenic Area—spanning around 333 hectares in total. It maintains a strong emphasis on engineering disciplines, particularly rail transit and transportation, while also offering programmes in science, business management, law, arts, and finance. SWJTU is directly administered by China’s Ministry of Education and hosts a government-approved Graduate School. It forms part of the national ‘211 Project’ and the ‘985 Project Innovation Platform’ focused on rail transit and transportation engineering.

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) is a university in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, founded in 1925 and restructured into its current form in 1952. It focuses primarily on finance, economics, and business-related disciplines, with 28 schools and institutes offering 35 undergraduate majors. Around 21,140 students study at SWUFE, including approximately 14,700 full-time undergraduates and 8,000 postgraduates. The university has awarded master’s and doctoral degrees since the late 1970s and hosts four post-doctoral research centres. Its faculty includes over 1,300 members, among them 300 professors and 530 associate professors. SWUFE was the first institution in southwestern China authorised to confer MBA and CPA qualifications. It counts more than 170,000 alumni and currently enrolls about 515 international students.

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.

Chengdu University (CDU), founded in 1978 in Chengdu, is a comprehensive municipal university offering engineering, liberal arts, management, and related programmes. Study emphasises applied learning for undergraduate and postgraduate students, including international applicants where programmes are open.

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.