Xiangtan University Outstanding International Student Scholarship

About the university

Xiangtan University, abbreviated as XTU, is located in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province. It is a comprehensive national key university initiated by Comrade Mao Zedong, a national "Double First-Class" university, supervised by Hunan Province, and jointly built by the Hunan Provincial People's Government with the Ministry of Education and the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. The university has been selected into the Everest Plan, 101 Plan, Talent Plan, 111 Plan, National Center for Applied Mathematics, University National Intellectual Property Information Service Center, National New Engineering Research and Practice Project, National Innovation and Entrepreneurship College, Excellent Legal Talent Education and Training Plan, and National High-level University Publicly Funded Graduate Program. It is a host institution for Chinese Government Scholarship international students, a national pilot unit for patent collaborative utilization, and a national model university for graduate employment. It is a member of the Belt and Road University Alliance, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization Space Law Alliance, the Global eduroam Alliance, the Yangtze River-Volga River University Alliance, and the vice-chairman unit of the Double First-Class University Alliance in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River. The university was founded in 1958, and on September 10 of the same year, Comrade Mao Zedong personally inscribed the name "Xiangtan University." It was suspended in 1959 due to certain reasons. In 1974, Comrades Deng Xiaoping and others approved the restoration of Xiangtan University, positioning it as a comprehensive university covering humanities, sciences, and engineering. In 1978, it was designated as a comprehensive national key university by the State Council. In 1981, it became one of the first batch of institutions authorized to confer master's degrees. In 2022, the university was selected as a national "Double First-Class" university. As of December 2024, the university covers an area of 1,940,153 square meters, offers 76 undergraduate programs, and has a graduate school and 24 colleges and teaching departments. Mathematics is a national "Double First-Class" discipline. It has 16 postdoctoral research stations, 18 first-level doctoral degree programs, 33 first-level master's degree programs, and 22 professional master's degree categories. There are 2,079 full-time teachers and over 44,000 full-time students, including more than 11,000 doctoral and master's students. In 1958, under the personal initiative of Chairman Mao Zedong, Xiangtan University was founded; on September 10 of the same year, Chairman Mao personally inscribed the name "Xiangtan University" and earnestly instructed, "We must do a good job of running Xiangtan University." At that time, the university had seven departments: Mechanical Engineering, Iron and Steel, Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry, Education, and Finance and Economics. In 1959, the university was suspended due to certain reasons. In September 1973, the Hunan Provincial Government submitted a document to the Ministry of Education requesting the restoration of Xiangtan University. In March 1974, central leaders including Comrades Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian signed State Council Document No. 23, approving the restoration of Xiangtan University, positioning it as a comprehensive university covering humanities, sciences, and engineering, and agreeing to allocate special construction funds from the State Planning Commission. On April 5 of the same year, the Hunan Provincial Party Committee established a "Working Committee for the Restoration of Xiangtan University" led by Provincial Party Secretary Li Zhenjun. In October 1974, during Chairman Mao's last visit to Hunan, he personally inquired about the progress of the restoration. In 2019, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan visited Xiangtan University for research. In 1974, Mao Zedong met with Li Xiannian and inquired about the restoration of Xiangtan University. Chairman Hua Guofeng inscribed for Xiangtan University: "Run a first-class university, cultivate first-class talents." Former President Jiang Zemin also inscribed for the university. Vice Premier Liu Yandong met with the main leaders of Xiangtan University and visited the campus. In November 1974, the Ministry of Education issued a notice to 10 provinces and cities including Jiangsu, Hubei, Liaoning, Jilin, Guangdong, Beijing, and Shanghai, requesting support in terms of faculty and books for Xiangtan University, which received an enthusiastic response from university teachers across the country. From 1975 to 1978, more than 3,000 people from all over the country wrote or visited to request transfer to the university. The university successively transferred 622 outstanding teachers from nearly 90 prestigious universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Renmin University of China, Nankai University, Wuhan University, and Sun Yat-sen University. A large number of academic giants, such as Jiang Shuge, Chen Zhonghu, Yuan Longwei, Cang Nan, Yin Shijie, Luo Zhukai, Yang Chunqiu, Peng Yanjiao, Yang Xiangqun, and Li Shoufo, gathered here. From 1975 to 1978, a total of 68 universities and research institutes generously donated more than 280,000 books, including 37,859 books from Tsinghua University and 30,000 books from Hubei University of Finance and Economics. In 1975, the Peking University Library proposed that any duplicate books could be donated to Xiangtan University, and Peking University donated a total of 23,069 ancient books, including the Wuying Palace edition of the "Imperially Authorized Complete Collection of Ancient and Modern Books." In 1975, Xiangtan University established the Department of Chemical Machinery and the Department of Political Science. On September 10, the university held its first opening ceremony after restoration. The first Party Secretary of the restored university was Zhang Yong, and the first president was Li Zhenjun.