An Overview of Chongqing University

Chongqing University (CQU) is a key national university in China, directly under the State Ministry of Education, it is also one of the “211 Project and 985 Project” universities with full support in the construction and development from the central and local Government of China. CQU is located in Shapingba District, a cultural and educational center in the city of Chongqing, a major municipality of industry and commerce in the Southwest of China, an economic center on the upper reaches of Yangtze River.

Founded in 1929, Chongqing University had become a national comprehensive university consisting of six colleges in liberal arts, science, engineering, law science and medical science early in 1940s, thus earned a prestige both domestic and abroad then for its outstanding performance in education.

Consisting of six faculties of liberal arts, social science, science, engineering, architecture and information, Chongqing University at present runs 32 colleges, plus the Marxism Teaching Research Institute, Graduate School, the City College of Science and Technology, the College of Continuing Education, and the College of Networking Education. The University now has a total enrollment of 50,000 students, of which 21,000 are master’s and doctoral students, 28,000 undergraduate students and over 1,400 international students. The university owns 28 mobile workstations for postdoctoral study, 28 primary doctoral programs(overlapping with 90 secondary discipline doctoral programs),3 secondary level doctoral programs, 51 primary master programs(overlapping with 181 secondary discipline master programs), 4 secondary master programs, 19 professional degree programs, and 96 bachelor’s degree programs in 10 academic categories of science, engineering, liberal arts, economics, management, law, education, arts, philosophy and history. Currently, the university has a total number of 5,200 faculty and staff members, among which 5 are members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 10 members of the Subject Appraisal Team of the Degree Committee under the State Council, 4 chief scientists of the National 973 Project, 3 the state-level middle-aged or young experts with distinguished contribution, 700 doctorate supervisors, 1,900 full professors and associate professors.

Chongqing University covers a total area of nearly 5,450 mu (about 178 hectares), with 1.50 million square meters of construction space. The university library is well equipped with modern facilities of large scale, with a collection of 4.3 million volumes, 6500 kinds of Chinese and foreign periodicals, and 2.82 million volumes of E-books. In addition to 5 electronic reading rooms with 90000 kinds of Chinese and foreign e-books and journals, the China Education Research Network (CERNET) Chongqing Central Node is set up in the library.

Chongqing University attaches great importance to international academic exchange and cooperation. It has established inter-university exchange links with over 115 institutions of higher education in 20 countries such as the USA, England, France, Germany, Russia, etc. Besides, the university has forged cooperative relations with about 20 prestigious international corporations or institutions such as US PARC, Rockwell Automation, Siemens, Microsoft, Lipo Group, Tokyo Foundation, etc. Chongqing University is authorized by the Ministry of Education to receive overseas students with the Chinese Government Scholarship. In 2014, more than 1400 international students are studying at Chongqing University, from over 124 countries. CQU has setup three Confucius Institutes in Thailand, Italy and Australia respectively, in cooperation with Betong City government, Sant Anna School of Higher Learning and La Trobe University.

Chongqing University is fully committed to implementing the strategy of “prospering the country and Chongqing city with science-and-technology and education”, sticking to its education philosophy of “taking root in Chongqing, finding a foothold in the Southwest, facing the West, Serving the whole nation, stepping towards the world”, carrying forward its excellent schooling tradition, striving for the realization of its goal of developing Chongqing University into a first-class comprehensive research university in China, with unique characteristics and international fame.