Chinese universities for international students

Peking University (PKU) is China's oldest modern national university and its strongest comprehensive institution in the humanities, basic sciences, medicine and social sciences. It occupies one of the most beautiful campuses in Asia, built around the Yan Garden lake and the Boya Pagoda..

Strengths: Mathematics · Chemistry · Physics

• Founded1898
• International students3,800
• Programmes inChinese, Chinese / English, English, English / Chinese

Tsinghua University is China's flagship science, engineering and design institution and, by almost every international measure, the strongest university in Asia today. It sits on a 400-hectare campus in the Haidian district of north-west Beijing, immediately adjacent to Peking University, in a cluster that also contains the Chinese Academy of Sciences' main research institutes..

Strengths: Computer Science & Technology · Mechanical Engineering · Architecture / Built Environment

• Founded1911
• International students4,100
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Fudan is Shanghai's most prestigious comprehensive university and China's strongest institution for medicine, journalism, economics and the humanities after Peking University. It has four campuses spanning the city..

Strengths: Clinical Medicine · Basic Medicine · Chinese Language & Literature

• Founded1905
• International students3,200
• Programmes inChinese, English

Shanghai Jiao Tong University is China's oldest engineering-led university and today one of its two strongest in engineering, medicine and computer science. Its name — "Jiao Tong" — is shared with Xi'an Jiaotong University, reflecting a common origin..

Strengths: Mechanical Engineering · Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering · Clinical Medicine

• Founded1896
• International students3,500
• Programmes inEnglish, English / French, Chinese

Zhejiang University is China's largest comprehensive research university by breadth of disciplines and, after Tsinghua, the strongest in engineering and computer science. It is spread over seven campuses in and around Hangzhou, the city that hosts Alibaba, NetEase and a large share of China's digital economy..

Strengths: Computer Science & Technology · Agricultural Science / Crop Science · Optical Engineering

• Founded1897
• International students5,600
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Nanjing University is one of China's most respected comprehensive universities, with a historic reputation in the natural sciences, Chinese literature, history and philosophy. Its astronomy, geology and atmospheric science departments are the best in the country..

Strengths: Astronomy · Geology / Earth Sciences · Atmospheric Science

• Founded1902
• International students2,100
• Programmes inChinese, English

USTC was created by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to train scientists, and it remains the most research-dense university in China: nearly three quarters of its students are postgraduates, and the majority of graduates go on to research careers..

Strengths: Physics · Chemistry · Mathematics

• Founded1958
• International students900
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Tongji University is China's pre-eminent university for architecture, urban planning, civil engineering, design and environmental engineering, with a strong German academic tradition dating back to its founding as a German medical school..

Strengths: Civil Engineering · Architecture / Built Environment · Urban & Rural Planning

• Founded1907
• International students3,400
• Programmes inEnglish, English / German, Chinese

Wuhan University occupies arguably the most beautiful campus in China — 250 hectares on Luojia Hill beside East Lake, famous for its cherry blossom avenue every March. It is a broad comprehensive university with particular strength in geodesy, remote sensing, surveying, hydrology, law, journalism and the humanities..

Strengths: Geodesy & Surveying · Remote Sensing & Geomatics · Law

• Founded1893
• International students3,000
• Programmes inEnglish, English / Chinese, Chinese

HIT is China's principal aerospace and defence engineering university. It builds and operates satellites, develops robotics for space and industry, and is the single largest source of engineers for the Chinese space programme..

Strengths: Mechanical Engineering · Control Science & Engineering · Materials Science & Engineering

• Founded1920
• International students2,200
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Tianjin University (Peiyang University) is the first modern university in China, founded in 1895. It is the country's leading institution for chemical engineering, architecture, instrument science and management, and is closely integrated with Tianjin's petrochemical and advanced manufacturing industries..

Strengths: Chemical Engineering · Architecture / Built Environment · Instrument Science & Technology

• Founded1895
• International students1,800
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese / English, Chinese

Beijing Normal University is the highest-ranked teacher-training university in China and a national research centre for education, psychology, geography, ecology and Chinese language teaching..

Strengths: Education · Psychology · Chinese Language & Literature

• Founded1902
• International students2,600
• Programmes inChinese, Chinese / English, English

SUSTech is China's boldest experiment in research university reform. Founded in 2011 in Shenzhen, it hires internationally, teaches in English and Chinese, and produces research output per faculty member that rivals much older institutions..

Strengths: Materials Science & Engineering · Mathematics · Physics

• Founded2011
• International students500
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Xi'an Jiaotong University is a C9 League member and the flagship engineering university of western China. It is particularly strong in energy and power engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, management and medicine..

Strengths: Power Engineering & Engineering Thermophysics · Electrical Engineering · Mechanical Engineering

• Founded1896
• International students2,700
• Programmes inEnglish

Beijing Institute of Technology is one of China's leading engineering universities and a member of the national-defence university group. It is strongest in vehicle engineering, automation, information and communication, materials and aerospace..

Strengths: Mechanical Engineering (Vehicle Engineering) · Information & Communication Engineering · Control Science & Engineering

• Founded1940
• International students2,000
• Programmes inEnglish

Shandong University is one of China's largest and oldest comprehensive universities, with eight campuses across Jinan, Qingdao and Weihai. It is particularly strong in mathematics, clinical medicine, materials science and Chinese literature..

Strengths: Mathematics · Clinical Medicine · Materials Science & Engineering

• Founded1901
• International students2,100
• Programmes inChinese, English

HUST is one of China's largest and most influential engineering universities, known nationally as the "MIT of central China". It is strong across mechanical engineering, optical electronics, electrical engineering, computer science and medicine..

Strengths: Mechanical Engineering · Optical Engineering · Electrical Engineering

• Founded1952
• International students2,600
• Programmes inEnglish, English / Chinese, Chinese

Sun Yat-sen University is the leading comprehensive university in southern China and the academic anchor of the Greater Bay Area. It has an enormous footprint: five campuses across Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Shenzhen, 59,000 students and 10 affiliated hospitals..

Strengths: Clinical Medicine · Basic Medicine · Ecology

• Founded1924
• International students2,400
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Sichuan University is the flagship of western China's higher education system and one of the largest universities in the country, with around 65,000 students. It is especially strong in medicine, dentistry, polymer materials, Chinese literature and stomatology..

Strengths: Stomatology (Dentistry) · Polymer Materials / Materials Science · Clinical Medicine

• Founded1896
• International students2,200
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Xiamen University has the most photographed campus in China: it sits directly on the coast at the foot of Nanputuo Temple, with its own beach. It is a comprehensive university with exceptional strength in economics, finance, accounting, chemistry and oceanography..

Strengths: Chemistry · Marine Sciences / Oceanography · Applied Economics

• Founded1921
• International students2,700
• Programmes inChinese, English

South China University of Technology is the leading engineering and technology university in the Greater Bay Area, with deep industry links to Guangdong's electronics, automotive, materials and construction sectors..

Strengths: Light Industry Technology & Engineering · Architecture / Built Environment · Materials Science & Engineering

• Founded1952
• International students1,500
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Nankai University, in Tianjin, is one of China's most distinguished comprehensive universities, with historic strengths in chemistry, mathematics, statistics, economics and history. It is co-located with Tianjin University on the Haihe Education Park campus..

Strengths: Chemistry · Mathematics · Statistics

• Founded1919
• International students1,900
• Programmes inChinese, Chinese / English, English

Southeast University, in Nanjing, is one of China's oldest and most respected engineering and architecture universities. It is particularly strong in architecture, civil engineering, electronic science, information and communication engineering, and transportation..

Strengths: Architecture / Built Environment · Electronic Science & Technology · Information & Communication Engineering

• Founded1902
• International students1,900
• Programmes inEnglish

Central South University in Changsha is a large comprehensive university built around the Xiangya medical tradition, which is one of the oldest Western medical schools in China, and around materials, metallurgy and mining engineering..

Strengths: Metallurgical Engineering · Mining Engineering · Materials Science & Engineering

• Founded2000
• International students2,100
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Dalian University of Technology is one of the four leading engineering universities of north-east China, with particular strength in chemical engineering, mechanics, civil engineering, shipbuilding and software..

Strengths: Chemical Engineering · Mechanics · Civil Engineering

• Founded1949
• International students1,600
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Beihang University (formerly Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) is China's top university for aerospace engineering, aeronautics, propulsion and flight control. It designs aircraft, satellites and drones and runs major national wind tunnels..

Strengths: Aeronautical & Astronautical Science · Instrument Science & Technology · Materials Science & Engineering

• Founded1952
• International students1,600
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

UESTC is China's dedicated electronics and information technology university, and the single best place in the country to study electronic engineering, communications, integrated circuit design and computer science..

Strengths: Electronic Science & Technology · Information & Communication Engineering · Computer Science & Technology

• Founded1956
• International students1,400
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Shanghai University is the city's largest municipal university, with around 45,000 students and a very large international student population of roughly 3,000. It is strong in materials science, mechanics, metallurgy, sociology and art..

Strengths: Materials Science & Engineering · Mechanics · Sociology

• Founded1994
• International students3,000
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Jilin University in Changchun is one of China's largest universities, formed by the 2000 merger of five institutions. It is the country's leading centre for automotive engineering, and also strong in chemistry, law and geology..

Strengths: Automotive Engineering · Chemistry · Law

• Founded1946
• International students1,900
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

East China Normal University is China's leading research university for education, psychology and Chinese language teaching, and a strong comprehensive university in geography, statistics, software engineering and ecology..

Strengths: Education · World History · Geography

• Founded1951
• International students2,900
• Programmes inChinese / English, English, Chinese

Zhengzhou University is the largest university in China by student numbers, with around 73,000 students, and the flagship institution of Henan province — China's most populous province and historically its most educationally under-served..

Strengths: Materials Science & Engineering · Clinical Medicine · Chemistry

• Founded1956
• International students2,300
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Northwestern Polytechnical University is one of China's 'Seven Sons of National Defence' universities and the country's premier school for aircraft design, aero engines, materials and underwater vehicles..

Strengths: Aeronautical Science & Technology · Materials Science & Engineering · Mechanical Engineering

• Founded1938
• International students1,800
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese

Renmin University of China (RUC) is the country's most influential university in economics, finance, law, sociology, journalism and public administration. Its graduates dominate China's financial regulatory bodies, major banks and think tanks..

Strengths: Applied Economics · Law · Sociology

• Founded1937
• International students1,900
• Programmes inEnglish, Chinese