Sichuan University (SCU) is one of China's top universities, attached to the 

Ministry of Education. The Chairman of the University Council of Sichuan 

University is Wang Jianguo, and the President is Li Yanrong.

Sichuan University is located in Chengdu, a famous historical and cultural 

capital city of Sichuan Province, known as the land of abundance. It consists 

of three campuses:Wangjiang, Huaxi and Jiang'an, covering an area of 470 

hectares and boasting 2.515 million square meters of floor space. The 

university campuses, with their favorable environment and beautiful 

landscape, make a wonderful place for learning and research.

Sichuan University is an institution that comprises three former national 

universities: the former Sichuan University, the former Chengdu University of 

Science and Technology, and the former West China University of Medical 

Sciences. The history of Sichuan University dates back to the Sichuan Chinese 

and Western School founded by Lu Chuanlin, Governor of Sichuan in 1896 on the 

orders of Emperor Guangxu. It is the earliest modern institute of higher 

education in Southwest China. The former Chengdu University of Science and 

Technology was one of the earliest multi-disciplinary engineering 

universities established through a restructuring program of colleges and 

universities. The former West China University of Medical Sciences, original 

West China Union University, was established by western Christian 

missionaries in Chengdu in 1910. It was not only one of the first 

universities in the western tradition, but also one of the pioneering 

universities to offer postgraduate programs in China.

In 1994, the former Sichuan University and the former Chengdu University of 

Science and Technology merged into Sichuan United University, and then in 

1998, it was renamed Sichuan University. CPC and state leaders including 

Jiang Zemin and Li Peng wrote congratulatory messages and gave their best 

wishes to the merger of the two universities. The second merger took place in 

2000 when Sichuan University and the former West China University of Medical 

Sciences joined together. Sichuan University is a pioneer in the 

institutional reform of higher education. It's one of the first universities 

being reformed and has made historic contributions to the reforms of higher 

education in China,commented Li Lanqing, a former Vice Premier. During the 

May 12th Wenchuan earthquake relief period, CPC and state leaders including 

Wu Bangguo and Wen Jiabao visited Sichuan University.

Sichuan University enjoys a long tradition in education and boasts many 

renowned scholars. Over the past century, the university has attracted 

masters such as historian Gu Jiegang, writer Li Jieren, esthetician Zhu 

Guangqian, physicist Wu Dayou, botanist Fang Wenpei, public health expert C. 

C. CHEN, and mathematician Ke Zhao. The administrators of the university 

include some of the most important names in contemporary China, Wu Yuzhang 

and Zhang Lan, for example. Among the outstanding alumni are Zhu De, one of 

the founding fathers of the People's Republic of China, Yang Shangkun, a 

former Chairman of China, GuoMoruo and Ba Jin, both renowned writers, as well 

as national hero Jiang Zhujun. Over 50 members of the Chinese Academy of 

Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering graduated from Sichuan 

University, and 36 out of 50 Sichuan Cultural Celebrities nominated in 2001, 

were also alumni of the university.

Sichuan University has a comprehensive range of disciplines covering 12 

categories: humanities, science, engineering, medicine, economy, management, 

law, history, philosophy, agriculture, education and art. It consists of 34 

colleges, including a postgraduate college and an overseas education college. 

A total of 45 disciplines have been authorized by the state to grant doctoral 

degrees. Altogether, the university offers 354 doctoral programs, 438 master 

programs, 32 professional master's programs, 138 undergraduate programs, and 

37 post-doctoral research stations. It also has 46 national key disciplines 

and 4 national key cultivated disciplines.

Sichuan University takes pride in its large pool of prominent scholars and 

professors. By the end of 2016, there were 5,324 full-time teachers. Among 

them, there were 1,767 professors, 14 academicians of the Chinese Academy of 

Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, 6 Outstanding Professors, 80 

experts recruited through the thousand Talents Plan(including 46 through 

thousand Youth Talents Program and 2 through the Recruitment Program of 

Global Experts, 41 distinguished professors and 14 Chair professors of the 

Changjiang Scholars Program, 45 winners of The National Science Fund for 

Distinguished Young Scholars, 9 Chief Scientists of 973 Project who led 12 

National Basic Research projects, 30 winners of The Key Project of The 

National Social Sciences Program Fund, 12 winners of the National Award for 

Distinguished Teachers, 11 winners of the National Innovation Talents 

Promotion Plan the Youth Scientific and Technological Innovation Leading 

Talents　and 123 experts recruited from the thousand Talents Plan of Sichuan 

Province.

In its long history as an institution of education, Sichuan University has 

formed a rich cultural heritage and laid a solid foundation in education. The 

university’s motto is “Sea, all water, receives all rivers; Utmost wit 

listens to all sides”, and its spirit is embodied in the following four 

words: preciseness, diligence, truth-seeking and innovation.To achieve the 

goal of being a first-class comprehensive research-oriented university, 

Sichuan University has shaped, in recent years, its own concept of higher 

education that promotes individualism, scholarship and excellence. It has 

developed a new management mechanism, in which teachers conduct education 

activities, students function as the center of education, and colleges and 

departments exercise management responsibilities. The university is dedicated 

to providing high-quality education through an integrated multi-disciplinary 

approach to research and teaching　which will help cultivate elite members of 

the society who have a profound humanity background, trustworthy expertise, a 

strong sense of innovation and a broad international horizon. The current 

student body includes approximately 37,000 undergraduate students, over 

20,000 master and PhD candidates and more than 3,400 international students 

and students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Since 2003, the university has 

been honored with 31 National Teaching Achievement Awards, 33 National 

Excellent Courses, 12 National Video Open Courses, 31 Collectible Resources 

Sharing Classes and 23 doctoral dissertations that are included in the Top 

100 Excellent Doctoral Dissertations.

Sichuan University has exhibited great strength in research and made 

remarkable achievements over the years. It has 13 key national laboratories 

and engineering centers, 4 state-level international scientific and 

technological cooperation bases, 11 key laboratories and 6 engineering 

research centers under the supervision of Ministry of Education, and 3 key 

laboratories under the supervision of Ministry of Health. It also has 9 

national centers for talent training, research and teaching, 8 National 

Experimental Teaching Demonstration Centers, 19 National Engineering Practice 

Education Centers, 3 National Experimental Teaching Center Of Virtual 

Simulation, 1 National Teacher Teaching Development Demonstration Center, 1 

National Base of Culture-Oriented Quality Education for College Students, 9 

National Off-campus Practice Education Bases for College Students, 4 key 

National Research Bases for Philosophy and Social Sciences, 3 National Drug 

Clinical Trial Institutes. Since 2005, the university has won 41 awards in 

three major national award categories for science and technology. In 2016, 

the research funding of the university increased to 1.86 billion RMB, the 

number of papers published ranked the 5th and the number of SCI papers ranked 

the 6th in China. In the field of humanities and social sciences, experts of 

the university compiled, edited and published several extensive collections 

and anthologies, including a Chinese Dictionary, The Complete Works of Song 

Dynasty, A History of Chinese Taoism, and Ru Zang(Collected Works of 

Confucianism).

Sichuan University has actively promoted both national and regional 

socioeconomic development, and is constantly building its capacity to serve 

the community and the society. The university is one of the first six 

national technology transfer centers in 2008 and was among the first four 

universities honored as Model Institution or Corporation of Intellectual 

Property Right Protection in 2009. The Science and Technology Park of Sichuan 

University is one of the first 15 national college science and technology 

trial parks approved by the country. In 2012, it was named The National Class 

A (Excellent) University Science and Technology Park and has incubated over 

335 science and technology enterprises including one publicly-listed company. 

In 2016, it was confirmed one of the first Model Base of Mass Innovation and 

Entrepreneurship, one of the first Model University of Deepening The Reform 

of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education. In recent years, the university 

has established cooperative relations in production, education and research 

with over 6,000 corporations of more than 20 provinces (autonomous regions 

and municipalities) and more than 150 cities at home and abroad. In addition, 

the university has established about two hundred high-level university and 

enterprise collaboration platforms for production, education and research. 

During the past five years, it has undertaken more than 13,000 projects in 

technological development, transfer, service and consulting projects for 

domestic and foreign enterprises. A series of major scientific and 

technological projects have yielded leading technologies applied in related 

industries. School teachers and students has established over 60 enterprises 

with property rights by relying on scientific achievements. In 2009, the 

university was confirmed one of the first thirteen National University Base 

of Cadre Education and Training. It has 4 directly affiliated hospital of 

Ministry of Health, which played an important role in the treatment of 

serious natural disasters, such as the Wenchuan earthquake and Yushu 

earthquake of Qinghai province, making significant contributions to the 

development of national health care and people's health level.

Sichuan University has established contacts and cooperative relationships 

with over 250 renowned colleges and universities as well as research 

institutes from 34 countries and regions. It has established well-rounded 

joint education programs of at different levels and in various forms with 214 

famous universities from over 33 countries, including United States, 

Australia and some European countries. The University has established five 

Confucius Institutes in collaboration with five universities in South Korea, 

the US and Belgium. It has set up the Jiuzhaigou International Research 

Center for Ecology, Environment and Sustainability in a joint effort with the 

University of California and the University of Washington, Sino-US Institute 

for University Design with Arizona State University, Sino-German Joint Center 

for Energy Research with Clausthal University of Technology, Western China 

Poverty-Reduction Research Center with the State Council Leading Group Office 

of Poverty Alleviation and Development, State Council Leading Group Office of 

Western China Development, UNDP and the World Bank, Sichuan Post-Disaster 

Reconstruction Support and Research Center with Hong Kong Polytechnic 

University and Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute with University of 

Pittsburgh.

The university libraries have a collection of over 6.65 million books and the 

Humanities Museum houses over 85,000 objects, the Natural Museum, over 

870,000 animal and plant specimens, and the Archives and History Exhibition 

Center, over 280,000 volumes of historical archives (including over 9000 

valuable historical archives). The university also has gymnasiums equipped 

with complete and advanced facilities, and other facilities and services 

including Campus Network, Analytical and Testing Center, Modern Education 

Technology Center, Intensive Language Training Center, Adult Education 

College and Distance Learning College.

Looking ahead, Sichuan University shoulders the social responsibility to 

attract brilliant minds, nurture talents to serve the country, break new 

academic ground and promote scientific and technological development, whilst 

guiding the society. It will write more brilliant chapters in its history 

inheriting legacy whilst looking to a bright future of innovation and new 

possibilities.