Anhui Agricultural University Scholarship

About the university

Anhui Agricultural University (AAU), abbreviated as "AAU", is located in Hefei, Anhui Province. It is a provincial key university jointly established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and the People's Government of Anhui Province. It is among the first batch of "Characteristic High-Level Universities" under the Anhui Higher Education Revitalization Plan and one of the first universities to establish a "New Rural Development Research Institute". The university is also included in the China Scholarship Council's High-Level University Graduate Program and the national New Agricultural Science Research and Reform Practice Project. As the oldest institution of higher learning in Anhui, its origins trace back to the Provincial Anhui University founded in 1928 in Anqing, then the provincial capital. It was renamed National Anhui University in 1946, moved to Wuhu in 1949, and was renamed Anhui University. In 1954, it was split into Anhui Normal College and Anhui Agricultural College, with the latter relocating to Hefei in the same year. It gained the authority to confer master's degrees in 1981, was renamed Anhui Agricultural University in 1995, and obtained the authority to confer doctoral degrees in 2000. In 2011, it became a university jointly built by the Anhui Provincial Government and the Ministry of Agriculture, and in 2014, it became jointly built by the Anhui Provincial Government and the State Forestry Administration. As of October 2025, the university covers an area of 2.3961 million square meters (2023 data). It has 7 postdoctoral research stations for first-level disciplines, 11 doctoral degree authorization points for first-level disciplines, 27 master's degree authorization points for first-level disciplines, 1 master's degree authorization point for a second-level discipline, 19 professional master's degree categories, 20 colleges (departments), and 58 undergraduate programs. The university has a total of 29,928 full-time students (including 220 international students), of which 7,204 are master's and doctoral students. It boasts 53 national-level talents and 281 provincial-level talents. In 1928, Provincial Anhui University was established in Anqing. The first dean of its College of Agriculture was Li Shunqing (Bachelor of Forestry from Jinling University in Nanjing, Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Chicago). On February 1, 1929, the Anhui Provincial Government held its 77th committee meeting and approved the "Organization Outline of Anhui Provincial University," which stipulated that the university would consist of seven colleges, including Literature, Science, and Agriculture, each with several departments. A credit system was implemented, with credits determined based on the nature of each college's courses, and the graduation period for students was set at four to six years. In July 1929, the Anhui Provincial Government appointed Wang Xinggong as president of Anhui Provincial University. Upon taking office, Wang proposed the university's educational philosophy and goals, improved various rules and regulations, and reformed the school management system. He formulated the "Procedures for the University Council" and the "Anhui University Academic Regulations," implementing a system combining academic years and credits. In June 1930, the Anhui Provincial Government appointed Yang Lianggong as president of Anhui Provincial University. After taking office, Yang renamed the university to "Provincial Anhui University" in accordance with the Ministry of Education's requirements and revised the university's organization outline. In the summer of 1935, the Department of Agronomy began enrolling students, admitting 19 students with 2 alternates. Feng Zigang was appointed as the department chair and farm director, and He Junfeng was appointed as a professor in the department. After seven years of intermittent preparation, the College of Agriculture was officially established, marking a new chapter in higher agricultural education in Anhui.