Universities

Beihang University (BUAA), formerly Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, was founded in 1952 as China's first university focused on aerospace technology. Since the 1950s it has been one of 16 key state universities. It has grown into a science and technology university with aerospace features, combining science, engineering, liberal arts, law, economics, management, and education. Doctoral programs in 49 fields, master's in 144 fields, bachelor's in 57 subjects. The university has 28 schools and about 130 professional laboratories, of which 35 are listed as state or ministry key laboratories. Campus is in western Beijing near Zhongguancun. International education began in the early 1990s. By the end of 2011, over 1,100 international students were enrolled, including over 700 degree students (doctoral, master, or bachelor).

Founded in 1940, Beijing Institute of Technology is a science- and engineering-focused university located in China’s capital. It comprises 19 schools and delivers 64 undergraduate, 196 graduate, and 95 doctoral programmes across disciplines including engineering, materials science, chemistry, physics, mathematics, business, law, design art, and foreign languages. The campus hosts over 27,000 full-time students, including more than 1,200 international students from 90 countries. With 3,504 faculty members—including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering—the university maintains nine national key disciplines and five national key laboratories. Its academic structure integrates science, engineering, and liberal arts, with research activity concentrated in nationally designated centres and laboratories. BIT’s location in Beijing supports sustained engagement with national strategic priorities in technology and innovation.

Beijing Normal University (BNU) was founded in 1902. It is a major university in Beijing that has received strong national support, including through the "211" and "985" projects. Structure: 1 Faculty, 23 colleges and schools, 2 departments, and 37 institutes. BNU signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Beijing Municipal Government and became the 10th university on a special support list aiming for world prestige. It has 108 doctoral programs, 153 master's programs, 60 bachelor's programs, and 25 post-doctoral programs. It has 16 national key disciplines (5 general and 11 specialized). BNU has cooperative agreements with 300 institutions in over 30 countries, and over 50 student exchange partners in Asia, Europe, and North America. Joint Confucius Institutes are named with: University of Manchester (UK); San Francisco State University (US); University of Oklahoma (US); Université de Sherbrooke and Dawson College (Canada); Aalborg University (Denmark); University of Macerata (Italy); and the College of William and Mary (US).

Minzu University of China (MZUC) in Beijing's Haidian District is a national university designated for ethnic minority education and known for teaching and research across related fields.

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.

Renmin University of China (RUC) is a comprehensive research university focused on humanities and social sciences. Its predecessor was Shanbei Public School (1937), later North China Union University and North China University. It was formally established as Renmin University of China on 3 October 1950 — described as the first university founded by the new Chinese government — and is a Project 211 and Project 985 university, often called a flagship for social sciences and humanities education in China. Structure: 26 schools and 14 interdisciplinary research institutes, plus School of Physics, School of Continuing Education, and School of Education & Training; a satellite campus in Suzhou and a research institution in Shenzhen. Programs: 75 bachelor’s, 4 secondary bachelor’s, 183 master’s (including 33 offered autonomously by RUC), 124 PhD (including 31 autonomous); 20 first-level PhD disciplines and 18 postdoctoral mobile centers

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