English

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. A large number of famous scholars such as Li Siguang, Ma Yinchu, He Lu, etc., dedicated to the establishment of a solid academic foundation. In 1952, the nationwide restructuring of higher education turned Chongqing University into an engineering-orientated multi-disciplinary university under the State Ministry of Education. In 1960, Chongqing University was designated as one of the first key national universities. Since the implementation of reform and opening-up policy in China, Chongqing University has stressed the development of disciplines like humanities, business management, art, sports education, which has further sped up the process of developing itself into a comprehensive institution of higher learning. To meet the needs of higher education development in the 21st century, and to further enhance the university's overall strength, in accordance with the State resolution on institutional reform of universities, Chongqing University merged with Chongqing Jianzhu University and Chongqing Architectural College on May 31 2000, forming a new Chongqing University. In maintaining its previous disciplinary advantage in mechanical and electrical engineering, energy, material science, information technology, bioengineering, business administration, the merger upgraded the new Chongqing University's academic status in China in the fields of architecture, civil engineering and environmental studies. For its further construction and development, and with the greater support of the State Ministry of Education and Chongqing Municipal Government in terms of capital investment, the new Chongqing University readjusted its education philosophy, formulated its development strategy during the tenth "five-year plan" period, revised its talent-cultivation scheme and teaching program by laying stress on fostering students' innovation ability, improving students' all-round quality. Thus, the university has carried out a series of new measures in its teaching reform, including: renowned professors giving lectures for undergraduate students, bilingual teaching project, innovative talent training program, the system for outstanding students to conduct a consecutive study of bachelor's degree and master's degree programs, etc. Besides, the university has perfected its credit system by adding and strengthening the major and minor specialty program, the flexible schooling system, the second-degree program, and the outstanding students training program, etc. The university has also reformed its standards and modes of choosing undergraduate students for conducting postgraduate programs without taking the entrance exam.
At present, Chongqing University runs 28 colleges, plus the Graduate School, the City College of Science and Technology, the College of Continuing Education, the College of Networking Education. The University now has a total enrollment of 50,000 students, of which 20,000 are master's and doctoral students, and 30,000 undergraduate students. The university owns 24 mobile workstations for postdoctoral study, 133 doctoral programs, 256 master programs, 18 professional master's degree programs, namely MBA, EMBA,MPA, master of engineering, and 89 bachelor's degree programs in 8 academic categories of scinece,engineering, liberal arts, conomics, management, law, agriculture and education. Currently, the university has a total number of 5,400 faculty and staff members, among which about 2700 are full-time teachers, 3 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and 12 contracted members from other institutions, 6 members of the Subject Appraisal Team of the Degree Committee under the State Council, 4 chief scientists of the National 973 Project,4 the state-level middle-aged or young experts with distinguished contribution, 500 doctorate supervisors, 1,700 full professors and associate professors.
Chongqing University covers a total area of 5,500 mu (about 178 hectares), with 1.60 million square meters of construction space. The university library is well equipped with modern facilities of large scale, with a collection of 3.90 million volumes, 6000 kinds of Chinese and foreign periodicals, and 2.0 million volumes of E-books. In addition to 5 electronic reading rooms with 65000 kinds of e-books and journals, the China Education Research Network (CERNET) Chongqing Central Node is set up in the library. Chongqing University is in possession of 17 state key subjects and 14 key subjects under the state "211 Project", 38 provincial or ministerial key subjects. The university sets up 14 specially appointed professor posts under the "Yangtze River Scholar Award Program". It has established 3 national teaching bases for fundamental courses and a national quality education base for college students, 9 national key labs and ministerial key labs, 71 provincial key labs, and 130 labs of different specialties. Moreover, Chongqing University has constructed the distance education center, multi-media classrooms of large scale and interactive audio-visual classrooms, labs or training centers in cooperation with world famous enterprises such as Siemens, Microsoft, IBM, Rockwell, Omron, etc. The university has a national key publishing house, a national first-class architectural designing institute, and a first-class institute for planning and design. In 2001, Chongqing University Technology Park came into being,as one of the 22 state-level university technology parks in China. Now a unique school-running pattern has been formed in the university which is characterized by offering a wide category of disciplines, rationalizing its disciplinary structure, maintaining its prominent advantage in engineering disciplines, increasingly enriching science disciplines, and further developing such lisciplines as economics, management, humanities and social sciences. In recent years, the university has undertaken over 100 national key scientific projects of different types, and won 13 National Awards for Invention, 40 Awards for Scientific and Technological Advancement, 4 Awards for Natural Science, 968 ministerial and provincial awards, 283 Awards for Teaching Achievement. Chongqing University attaches great importance to international academic exchange and cooperation. It has established inter-university exchange links withover 100 institutions of higher education in 20 countries such as the USA, England, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Holland, Japan, South Korea, Russia, etc. Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, Chongqing University has sent nearly 3000 teachers abroad for further study, attending international academic conference, or for academic visits; and received over 7200 overseas scholars including some world famous scholars like Dr. Z. N. Yang, Dr. Z. D. Li, Dr. C. L. Tien, Dr. L. R. Klein. Besides, the university has forged cooperative relations with about 20 prestigious international corporations or institutions such as Siemens, Rockwell Automation, IBM, Microsoft, Lipo Group, New York Life Insurance, Omron, ABB, Ford, etc. Chongqing University is authorised by the Ministry of Education to receive overseas students with the Chinese Government Scholarship. In 2013, more than 1200 international students are studying at Chongqing University, from over 123 countries. CQU has setup two Confucious Institutes in Thailand and Italy respectively, in cooperation with Betong City government and Sant Anna School of Higher Learning.
The growth of Chongqing University has received much attention and concern from the state leaders. Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, and Li Lanqing once inspected the university and fully affirmed its achievements. Graduates from Chongqing University are very much welcomed by employers for their high overall quality and strong capability. Every year there are a large number of well noted enterprises or organizations coming to the university for employing its graduates, which makes the university keep a good trend in the employment of its graduate students. Since its founding, Chongqing University has become an important education base as well as a research center, providing the country with more than 200,000 advanced professionals who have become the backbone in the nation's economic construction. There are over 40 alumini of the university who are now members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering or members of the Chinese Academy of Science.
Looking on the future, catching the historical opportunity of the West Development and of the joint financial support from the state Ministry of Education and Chongqing Municipal government, 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.