Fuzhou University (FZU) is a national “Double First-Class” university, a key institution under the national “211 Project,” and a university jointly established by the People’s Government of Fujian Province and the Ministry of Education. Founded in 1958, FZU has developed into a leading comprehensive university that emphasizes engineering, integrates science and engineering, and promotes the coordinated development of multiple disciplines, including science, engineering, medicine, economics, management, literature, law, and the arts.

Since its establishment, generations of Fuzhou University faculty and students have adhered to the university motto of “In the endless pursuit of virtue and learning” (明德至诚，博学远志). They have also practiced three key spirits: the pioneering spirit of arduous struggle, exemplified by Comrade Zhang Gumei; the rigorous and truth-seeking spirit of scholarship, represented by Mr. Lu Jiaxi; the dedicated and determined spirit of striving for excellence, represented by Academician Wei Kemei. These efforts have contributed to the cultivation of a campus culture at Fuzhou University characterized by “Upholding integrity and innovation, highlighting distinctiveness, embracing openness, and striving for excellence” in the new era. Through this enduring commitment, the university has accumulated a wealth of experience in education and developed distinctive features. To date, FZU has nurtured over 330,000 full-time graduates for the nation.

Institutional Capacity and Disciplinary Strength

The university comprises 27 colleges (including one independent college and one Sino-foreign joint venture college) and one affiliated provincial hospital. The current enrollment includes 40,352 regular undergraduate students (of which 13,703 are from Zhicheng College) and 19,248 postgraduate students (doctoral and master’s candidates). The university currently offers 83 undergraduate programmes. It is authorized to grant degrees across 39 master’s degree programmes for the first-rank disciplines, and 25 professional master’s degree programmes, 19 doctoral programmes for the first-rank disciplines, 5 professional doctoral degree programmes, and 12 post-doctoral research stations.

The university features 1 National Key Discipline and 1 National Key (Nurturing) Discipline. Furthermore, the Chemistry discipline has once again been selected for the World-Class Discipline Construction List. A total of 12 disciplines ranks in the global top 1% according to ESI (Essential Science Indicators), with three disciplines—Chemistry, Engineering, and Materials Science—ranking in the global top 1‰. The comprehensive strength of FZU is reflected in several major global rankings. It ranked 319 globally in the 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), 383^rd in the US News 2025 World University Rankings, 601-800 in the 2025 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and 313 in the 2023 QS Asia University Rankings. Among mainland Chinese universities, it ranked 60 in ARWU, 54^th in US News, 43^rd in Times Higher Education, and 65^th in QS.

Academic Staff Development and Team Building

The university currently has a total of 3,481 faculty and staff, including 2,502 full-time teaching staff. Among them, there is a number of 155 people recognized as national- level talents (108 individuals) and a number of 1151 people as provincial-level talents (887 individuals). In terms of high-level talents and teams, the university boasts 11 academicians (including 7 distinguished chair professors), 18 recipients of the “Yangtze River Scholar Award” (including 8 young scholars), 22 national high-level introduced talents (including 16 for the Young Talents Program), 30 individuals selected for the national “Ten Thousand Talents Programme” (including 1 National Master Teacher and 11 for the Young Talents Program), 14 recipients of the National Distinguished Youth Science Fund, 1 recipient of National Outstanding Professional and Technical Talent Award, 12 individuals at the national level for the “Hundred, Thousand, and Ten Thousand Talents Programme,” 9 national-level young experts with outstanding contributions, 18 recipients of the National Excellent Young Scientist Fund (including the Overseas category), 5 young and middle-aged leading talents in scientific and technological innovation from the Ministry of Science and Technology, 3 cultural experts and talents selected for the “Four Batches” Talent Programme.

Meanwhile, one team has been recognized as the “National Advanced Collective of Professional and Technical Talents.” Two teams have received recognition as “National Huang Danian-style Teacher Teams in Higher Education.” Furthermore, two teams have been designated under the Ministry of Education’s “Yangtze River Scholars and Innovation Team Development Plan,” two teams have been selected for the Ministry of Science and Technology’s “Innovative Talent Promotion Plan” in key areas, and two teams have been selected as “Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.” Additionally, one college has been included in the national “Demonstration Plan for Internationalization of Universities,” four colleges have been selected for the national “Discipline Innovation and Foreign Talent Introduction Plan for Higher Education Institutions” (“111 Plan”), and one college has been entitled to the “National Demonstration Base for Talent Introduction and Intellectual Resources.”

Education, Teaching, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Fuzhou university maintains a robust infrastructure for talent development, including 2 national-level talent development bases, 6 national-level experimental teaching demonstration centres, 1 national virtual simulation experimental teaching centre, 1 national pilot zone for innovative talent training models, 6 national engineering practice education centres in collaboration with enterprises, 1 national joint training demonstration base for professional degree postgraduates in engineering, 1 Ministry of Education First-Batch Comprehensive Reform Pilot College for “Three All-Round Education,” 1 Ministry of Education base for top students training program in basic disciplines 2.0, 1 Ministry of Education collaborative training and innovation base for foreign-related rule of law talents, 1 Ministry of Education basic discipline “101 Programme” discipline, 1 national-level virtual teaching and research centre, 1 national teaching team, 7 national-level featured disciplines, and 37 national-level first-class undergraduate construction disciplines. In addition, 23 programmes have received accreditation from the Ministry of Education for engineering education, among which 20 programmes in engineering education have been certified by the Ministry of Education and 3 programmes have been approved by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Furthermore, the university has been awarded 56 national-level first-class undergraduate courses, 3 national excellent courses, 1 national-level bilingual teaching demonstration course, 3 national excellent resource-sharing courses, 2 national-level excellent video open courses, 7 Ministry of Education “New Engineering” research and practice projects, and 4 Ministry of Education “New Liberal Arts” research and reform practice projects. It has also been granted 1 Ministry of Education ideological and political exemplary course, 1 national-level ideological and political course demonstration teaching team, and 1 national-level outstanding teacher studio for ideological and political courses. Moreover, one faculty member has been selected as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Teaching Ideological and Political Theory Courses in Higher Education, and the university hosts 2 provincial-level centres for ideological and political course research and practice, 182 provincial-level first-class undergraduate courses, 8 provincial-level exemplary courses for ideological and political education, 4 provincial-level modern industry colleges and 3 provincial-level top talent training bases in basic disciplines.

Fuzhou university is a comprehensive pilot reform institution for professional master’s degree education and an innovative university for engineering master’s degree education in China. It is also a pilot reform institution for the Ministry of Education’s “Excellent Engineer Education and Training Programme,” a university for the Ministry of Education’s “National College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Programme” and a university selected for national “Outstanding Youth Science Program.” Since the “Fourteenth Five-Year Plan,” the university has been awarded 3 National Teaching Achievement Awards and 34 Provincial Teaching Achievement Awards. Students have won 265 international awards and 1,932 national-level awards in various disciplinary competitions. The university has been selected as one of the “First Batch of National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Colleges,” a “National Exemplary University for Deepening Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Reform,” a “National-level Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation Base,” and a “National University Student Entrepreneurship Exemplary Park.” In the recent ten International College Students’ Innovation Competitions (National Final), the university won 16 Gold, 32 Silver, and 48 Bronze medals. In the past five years, the university has won 7 Grand Prizes and 4 Gold Medals in the “Challenge Cup” competitions, and has secured the Team “Excellence Cup” for three consecutive years. It has also been recognized as one of the “Top 50 Colleges and Universities for Graduates’ Employment” in China.

Social Services and Scientific Achievements

The university currently possesses 1 national-level university science and technology park, 15 national-level and 130 provincial and ministerial-level science and technology innovation platforms, and 30 social science and humanity bases at the provincial and ministerial level. Among these, there are 3 national key laboratories, 1 state key laboratory, 7 national engineering research centres, 1 national engineering technology research centre, 3 national international scientific and technological cooperation bases, 4 Ministry of Education key laboratories, 2 Ministry of Education engineering research centres, 2 provincial and ministerial-level collaborative innovation centres, 1 innovation service platform of the Ministry of Natural Resources, 2 provincial innovation laboratories, 7 provincial and ministerial-level Think Tank, and 1 provincial philosophy and social sciences key laboratory.

Fuzhou university is the only higher education institution in Fujian Province to simultaneously hold the titles of “National University Science Park,” “National Technology Transfer Exemplary Institution,” “Higher Education Institution for Technology Achievement Transformation and Technology Transfer Base,” “National Intellectual Property Pilot University,” “National-level Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation Space,” “National College Student Entrepreneurship Exemplary Park,” “National Exemplary University for Deepening Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Reform,” and “National Entrepreneurship Incubation Exemplary Base.”

Since the “Fourteenth Five-Year Plan,” the university has been engaged in 4117 scientific research projects of various types, with research funding totaling 1.87 billion Chinese yuan. It has gradually established a network of science parks across the nine municipalities of Fujian Province, creating a development pattern of “One Park, Three Zones, Coordinated Development; Radiating to Multiple Points, Innovation for Mutual Benefit.” FZU has signed 3974 cooperation agreements, with funding from university-local government-enterprise cooperation reaching 1.231 billion Chinese Yuan. The university has received 118 awards at the provincial and ministerial levels or above, including 4 national science and technology awards. The university has been granted 5972 national patents. 14484 scientific papers have been included in the three major citation indices, including 6 papers published in Nature and 3 papers published in Science. And 13 scholars from the university were recognized as “Highly Cited Scientists.”

International Cooperation and External Exchanges

The university has actively engaged in international cooperation and exchanges. It has established collaborative relationships with more than 140 universities, research institutions, and renowned companies in over 50 countries and regions, including the University of Cambridge (UK), RWTH Aachen University (Germany), National University of Singapore, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The university established international exchange platforms for science and education cooperation, developing joint laboratories, including those with partners from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Actively aligning with the national “Belt and Road” Initiative, the university has become an institution authorized to receive Chinese Government Scholarship students and recruits international students from over 30 countries. Furthermore, to advance a new paradigm for “Belt and Road” educational and scientific cooperation, the university has jointly established the Future Technology Joint Research Institute with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) in Malaysia. Student study abroad and exchange programs cover the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels, reaching over 95% of the university’s colleges. The university employs over 50 overseas experts and scholars for long-term teaching positions. Currently, the university operates 1 Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution (the Maynooth International School of Engineering) and 3 Sino-foreign cooperative educational programs, covering both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Exchange and cooperation with Taiwan have developed in depth, with the establishment of integrated joint training models becoming a new highlight of educational exchange and cooperation between Fujian and Taiwan.

Public Service Facilities

The university features a beautiful campus environment, advanced teaching and scientific research facilities, and a comprehensive public service system. It is dedicated to fostering the development of a culturally enriched campus, an intelligent campus, and an environmentally sustainable campus. The main campus is situated in Qishan, with another 6 additional campuses in cities such as Fuzhou, Xiamen, and Quanzhou. The total built-up area of the campus is 1.79 million square meters. The university’s fixed assets have a combined value exceeding 8.1 billion Chinese yuan, encompassing teaching and research instruments and equipment valued at 2.6 billion Chinese yuan. The sports facilities encompass an expansive area of 218000 square meters, and the library houses 4.32 million printed books and 8.88 million electronic books.

The university is actively pursuing its grand goal of becoming an internationally renowned high-level university with world-class disciplines, striving to become a leading university in Southeast China. It is striving to make new and greater contributions to the national and regional economic and social development. (Data updated to September 30, 2025)