Confucius Institute Scholarship at China University of Petroleum (Beijing)

About the university

China University of Petroleum, Beijing (CUP), also known as Zhongshida, operates across two campuses: one in Beijing and one in Karamay. The Beijing campus is located at the southern foot of Jundu Mountain in Changping District, covering an area of over 700 mu (approximately 47 hectares). The Karamay campus is situated in Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, covering over 7,000 mu (approximately 467 hectares). It is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. The university's predecessor was the Beijing Petroleum Institute, founded in 1953 based on the Petroleum Department of Tsinghua University, with faculty contributions from Tianjin University, Peking University, and other institutions. In 1960, it was designated as a national key university. In 1969, it relocated to Dongying, Shandong, near the Shengli Oilfield, and was renamed East China Petroleum Institute. In 1988, it was renamed the University of Petroleum, comprising the University of Petroleum (Beijing) and the University of Petroleum (East China). In February 2000, the university was transferred from the China National Petroleum Corporation to the administration of the Ministry of Education, clarifying that the University of Petroleum (Beijing) and the University of Petroleum (East China) would operate independently. In January 2005, it adopted its current name. China University of Petroleum, Beijing is a national "Double First-Class" construction university, one of the first batch of "211 Project" universities, a member of the Beijing High-Tech University Alliance and the World Energy University Alliance, and is included in the 985 Advantage Discipline Innovation Platform, the "111 Plan," the Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program, the National High-Level University Public Graduate Program, the New Engineering Research and Practice Project, and is a host institution for Chinese Government Scholarship international students. As of March 2025, it has 17 secondary colleges (departments), 2 national key laboratories, and offers 47 undergraduate programs. It has 1,500 faculty and staff members and over 9,000 full-time undergraduate students. In 1953, to support the economic construction and petroleum industry development of the new China, the first petroleum higher education institution in the country—Beijing Petroleum Institute—was founded based on the Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Departments of Tsinghua University, with contributions from departments of Peking University, Tianjin University, and others. This was the predecessor of China University of Petroleum. Due to the impact of the Cultural Revolution, the university moved to Dongying, Shandong in 1969 and was renamed East China Petroleum Institute. The relocation caused significant losses in personnel and resources; all campus buildings at that time were only 40,000 square meters of "rammed earth" houses, without laboratories, libraries, or sports fields. Facing difficulties, faculty and students relied on themselves, worked hard, and rebuilt the school on the saline-alkali land. In 1988, it was renamed the University of Petroleum, with its headquarters in Beijing, consisting of the University of Petroleum (Beijing) and the University of Petroleum (East China). The University of Petroleum (Beijing) resumed enrolling undergraduate students nationwide in 1989. In 2000, the university was transferred from the China National Petroleum Corporation to the direct administration of the Ministry of Education, and in June of the same year, it established a graduate school. In 2001, five secondary disciplines—Mineral Resource Prospecting and Exploration, Oil and Gas Well Engineering, Oil and Gas Field Development Engineering, Oil and Gas Storage and Transportation Engineering, and Chemical Technology—were rated as national key disciplines.