Xinjiang University originated from Xinjiang College of Russian language, Political Science and Law in 1924.
In1935, The College was reorganized and renamed as Xinjiang College. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it was presided over one after another by the well-known Communists Yu Xiusong, Lin Jilu and the prominent patriotic democrat Du Zhongyuan. Under the guidance of Marxism, they modeled the College after the Military and Political University of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Yan’an （commonly known as Yan’an Kangda）; they adopted educational policies “Chinese nation in form, Marxist in content”, and “teaching and practice as one”, and set down the motto for XJU: Unity, Concentration, Modesty, Vitality.
In 1978, Xinjiang University was appointed by the State Council as one of the first 88 key institutions of higher education and one of 16 comprehensive key universities. In 1997, the university was selected into the first list of “project 211” universities. In 2004, it became a university jointly built by the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and the Ministry of Education of People’s Republic of China (PRC). In 2012, the university was listed in the “Comprehensive Capacities Promotion Project for Universities in the Central and Western Regions”. In 2017, it entered the first round of“Double First-Class Universities Plan”. In 2018, it was appointed to the co-construction by the Ministry of Education of PRC and the People’s Government of XUAR.
Xinjiang University is the university with the longest history and the most diverse disciplines in Xinjiang for recruiting and educating international students. It has a long-standing history of attracting international students seeking bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from various countries around the world, especially those along the Belt and Road route. Additionally, the university accepts non-degree international students for short-term training programs, general studies, and advanced studies. The majors offered to international students are divided into Chinese-taught ones and English-taught ones, covering a wide range of disciplines in liberal arts, science and engineering including Chinese language, International Chinese Language Education, Chinese Language and Literature, World Economy, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science and Technology, Biology, Tourism Management, International Politics, Software Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Electrical Engineering, etc.. Apart from self-financed international students, the university is authorized to independently recruit international students sponsored by Chinese Government Scholarship, International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship and People’s Government of XUAR Scholarship for International Students from Neighboring Countries. Xinjiang University has co-established 3 Confucius Institutes respectively with Novosibirsk State University in Russia, Bishkek National University in Kyrgyzstan, and Jalal-Abad State University in Kyrgyzstan .
The university has 9 categories of disciplines: Philosophy, Economics, Law, Literature, History, Science, Engineering, Management and Art, which cover the main fields of advanced professional training and scientific research.
There are 3 national “double first-class” disciplines (Marxist Theory, Chemistry, Computer Science and Technology), 3 disciplines (Mathematics, Chinese Language and Literature, and Mechanical Engineering) sponsored by the Dominant Disciplines Revitalization Project of the “14th Five-Year Plan” of XUAR, and 6 disciplines (Law, Geography, Biology, Ecology, Electrical Engineering and Chemical Engineering and Technology) sponsored by the Distinctive Disciplines Innovation Project of the “14th Five-Year Plan” of XUAR. 4 disciplines (Chemistry, Engineering, Materials Science, Environment and Ecology) have been ranked in the top 1% of the global ESI. 14 first-level disciplines have been authorized to offer doctoral degrees and 1 discipline to offer professional doctoral degree of engineering; 37 first-level disciplines have been authorized to offer master’s degrees and 18 disciplines to offer professional master’s degrees; 12 postdoctoral research stations have been established. The university has 95 undergraduate majors and in 2023, 74 majors/major categories including 69 majors and 4 major categories that cover 9 majors have recruited undergraduates. There are 38 construction sites for the first-class undergraduate majors at national level and 15 construction sites for the first-class undergraduate majors at the Autonomous Region level.
In the past five years, the university has undertaken 42 national major and key projects, and the annual research funding has increased from RMB 110 million to RMB 510 million in 2022. The university has been awarded 1 second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, 1 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Award for Scientific and Technological Innovation, and 1 National Pioneer Innovation Award (2020), and 134 provincial and ministerial scientific research awards. The university has been selected as one of the first “Bases for Commercialization of Scientific and Technological Achievements and Technology Transfer in Higher Education”.
There are 37,350 students of all categories in XJU, including 22,360 undergraduate students, 13,790 graduate students, 1,095 doctoral students, and 105 international students.
There are 2041 full-time teachers, of whom 1020 full-time teachers have senior titles and 1005 teachers have doctoral degrees. There is 1 Chinese Academy of Engineering Academician, 21 people selected for the national talent programs, 1 “National Huang Danian Teacher Team”, 8 teachers enrolled in “New Century Excellent Talent Support Program” by the Ministry of Education, and 1 teacher selected into the national list of “Cultural Masters and One Batch of Talents from Each of Four Fields” (Young Talents for Cultural Promotion). There are 17 teachers honored as Outstanding Experts with Outstanding Contributions at the Autonomous Region level, 6 teachers as “Cultural Masters and One Batch of Talents from Each of Four Fields” and Leading Talents in Cultural Industry at the Autonomous Region level, and 13 as candidates of “National High-level Talents Special Supporting Program” of the Autonomous Region.
There are three campuses in XJU: the Honghu Campus, the Boda Campus, and the Youhao Campus. The three campuses cover an area of 4,790 mu, 863 mu for the Honghu Campus, 3,709 mu for the Boda, and 218 mu for the Youhao; the floor area is 1.24 million square meters, the Honghu 390,000m2, the Boda 710,000m2, and the Youhao 140,000m2. The library is the provincial center of the CALIS, housing a collection of more than 2 million paper volumes of various literature, nearly 60 electronic databases in Chinese and other languages, and more than 2.43 million electronic journals. The university, connected by a campus network, has established bases for the CERNET Xinjiang Node, the Xinjiang Education Regional Network Control Center, and the Urumqi Education Municipal Network. There is also a modern multi-purpose gymnasium.
College of International Cultural Exchange is an institution in Xinjiang University engaged in the education and training of International Chinese Language Education students at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels, as well as the management of international students in various disciplines and cooperation in joint student programs with foreign institutions. It was established in January 2008 and originated from the Center for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language at the College of Humanities of Xinjiang University, and so far has a history of more than 40 years in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
The college is also a base for research on Central and Western Asia and the cultivation of Chinese language talents, a research center for language and culture in the core area of the Silk Road, a training base for local Chinese language teachers in countries along the Silk Road, and a member institution of the Global Chinese Learning Alliance. Its undergraduate program of International Chinese Language Education ranks among the top undergraduate majors of Xinjiang.
The college currently offers undergraduate programs in International Chinese Language Education for Chinese students, Chinese Language for International Students, and a Master’s program in International Chinese Language Education (for both Chinese and international students). Additionally, the college is responsible for the management of all international students recruited by the university and providing courses of Chinese language and Chinese culture to the international students of undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels.
The college has 2 teaching and research departments respectively responsible for International Chinese Language Education and International Student Education, and 1 Language and Culture Research Center in the Silk Road Core Area. It is also responsible for international student programs sponsored by the Chinese Government Scholarship, International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship and People’s Government of XUAR Scholarship for International Students from Neighboring Countries, and has a national HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) network test center.
To enhance the practical abilities of students majoring in International Chinese Language Education, and to further improve their foreign language proficiency and their abilities of international Chinese language teaching, the college actively engages in exchange and cooperation with universities of neighboring countries. With the assistance of the three Confucius Institutes co-established by Xinjiang University with its partner universities in Russia and Kyrgyzstan and at the same time in collaboration with universities in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and other countries, the college has carried out various collaborative exchange programs, including student exchange programs, teacher visits and lectures, online distance teaching, training programs for local Chinese language teachers in Central Asia, and summer/winter camps for visiting students from abroad. A total of 12 overseas internship bases have been established. Since 2020, the college has arranged nearly 20 undergraduate and graduate students to offer online Chinese courses for learners in Mongolia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. From 2022 to the present, over 20 graduate students have been sent as volunteers to countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Mauritius, making contributions to international Chinese language education and promoting friendship between China and other countries. The college has also established internship and training bases in six educational institutions within Xinjiang, sending approximately 70 undergraduate and graduate students each year to these internship institutions to engage in teaching Chinese language and related courses.
The college currently has 29 full-time teachers, including 3 professors, 7 associate professors, and 12 graduate student supervisors. Nearly twenty faculty members have overseas study or teaching experience. The teachers’ professional backgrounds cover multiple disciplines such as Linguistics, Literature, English, Russian, Education, and Psychology. The college has established a Microgrid Teaching Laboratory and a Teaching Platform for the Construction of International Chinese Language Education Resources, forming teaching teams for language ontology, Russian language, English language, ideological and political education, culture and communication, language teaching theory, as well as research directions in language ontology and second language acquisition, international Chinese language education and teaching, the “Belt and Road” initiative and international communication, as well as traditional Chinese culture and its function in the modern era.
