In January 2025, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued guidelines on building a strong educational country (2024-2035), explicitly calling for the “orderly expansion of quality undergraduate education”. This followed the Central Economic Work Conference’s emphasis at the end of 2024 on “steadily expanding quality undergraduate enrollment”. The 2025 Government Work Report further stressed the need to advance quality undergraduate admissions, accelerate the construction of “Double First-Class” universities and disciplines, and optimize discipline adjustment mechanisms and talent training models.
Guizhou University (GZU) has steadily expanded its undergraduate enrollment in recent years and plans to expand its 2025 intake by 120 students, prioritizing majors in science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. This strategic expansion strengthens the university’s capacity to support national priorities and Guizhou Province’s high-quality development.
GZU boasts a strong academic profile, including 1 world-class discipline under China’s “Double First Class” initiative, 1 national-level key discipline, 2 provincial-ministerial joint discipline clusters aligned with local distinctive industries, 11 national first-class disciplines, and 10 regional first-class disciplines. According to the latest ESI data, 7 of its disciplines rank in the global top 1%. The university offers 22 first-level academic doctoral programs, 4 first-level professional doctoral programs, 50 first-level academic master’s programs, and 28 first-level professional master’s programs. It also provides 102 undergraduate majors, 84 of which are designated as first-class under the “Double Ten Thousand Plan”, including 52 at the national level. The faculty includes more than 80 national-level talents, including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Guided by an undergraduate-centered philosophy, GZU continuously enhances the quality of its education. Committed to the mission of fostering virtue through education, the university implements a new-era moral education initiative that integrates value shaping, capacity building, and knowledge transmission. By leveraging Guizhou’s red cultural heritage and its century-long institutional legacy, GZU has incorporated red culture into its ideological and political education and its student innovation and entrepreneurship programs. The university has established a holistic educational framework that combines ideological and political training with multidimensional, in-depth professional education. A comprehensive mentorship system—including academic, professional, and thesis advisors—supports students throughout their studies, inspiring them to learn with enthusiasm, diligence, and efficiency. GZU has 52 national first-class majors, ranking among the top 40 nationwide, along with 33 provincial first-class majors. It has 6 “Excellent Engineer” programs, 1 “Excellent Legal Talent” program, and 2 “Excellent Agricultural and Forestry Talent” programs. It also pilots elite innovation classes in plant protection, computer science and technology, biochemistry, and animal science. In the 18th “Challenge Cup” National College Students’ Extracurricular Academic and Technological Works Competition, the university won 11 top prizes, ranking among the top 10 universities in both total points and number of awards. GZU has also earned gold awards in the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition for five consecutive years, including 7 in the 2024 finals. The university has seen significant improvements in undergraduate English proficiency—reflected in rising CET-4 and CET-6 pass rates—as well as in the proportion of graduates pursuing further academic development, with 40% of the graduates in 2024 continuing their studies. Each year, more than 93% of graduates secure employment or continued education, with a growing number joining Global 500, China 500, and industry-leading enterprises, demonstrating the university’s rising employment quality. The university has also nurtured numerous outstanding individuals, including recipients of national honors such as the “Most Exemplary College Student” award. The university consistently ranks among China’s top 100 higher institutions in major domestic rankings, including the Academic Ranking of World Universities by ShanghaiRanking, the Chinese Universities Alumni Association’s Universities Ranking of China, and the Wu Shulian Chinese university rankings.
GZU remains committed to serving societal needs. Guided by its mission to foster virtue through education and its vision of embodying Chinese characteristics, striving for world-class standards, and addressing Guizhou’s needs, the university cultivates innovative talents with a strong sense of national pride and responsibility, global vision, creative spirit, and practical skills. With a strong sense of urgency, GZU is advancing the high-quality expansion of undergraduate education by optimizing its discipline and major structure, aligning with Guizhou’s strategic development priorities, and reinforcing its core strengths. By leveraging the strengths of key disciplines and building robust science and engineering programs, the university is advancing the coordinated development of education, science and technology, and talent cultivation, delivering tailored solutions and making meaningful contributions to Chinese-style modernization in Guizhou.
Editor: Zhang Chan
Chief Editor: Li Xufeng
Senior Editor: Ding Long
Translator: Jia Haibo
