Project 985

Project 985 () was a higher education development and sponsorship scheme of the government of China for creating world-class higher education institutions, initiated in May 1998. There were 39 universities selected to be part of this program, which are mostly considered top-tier institutions in mainland China.

Project 211 and Project 985 were both initiated by CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin in 1990s as part of the "revitalize the country through science and education" strategy. They were nullified in 2016 and replaced by the Double First-Class Construction in 2017, under the Xi Jinping administration.

History On May 4, 1998, Jiang Zemin stated at the 100th anniversary of Peking University that, "in order to achieve modernization, our country must have several first-class universities with world-leading levels."

In January 1999, the State Council of China issued the "Education Revitalization Action Plan for the 21st Century" drafted by the Ministry of Education, deciding to focus on supporting several higher education institutions to create world-class universities and high-level universities. This plan was later referred as the "985 Project", named after Jiang Zemin's speech at the 100th anniversary of Peking University (in May 1998).

The name derives from the date of the announcement, May 1998, or 98/5 according to the Chinese date format. The project involves both national and local governments allocating large amounts of funding to certain universities in order to build new research centers, improve facilities, hold international conferences, attract world-renowned faculty and visiting scholars, and help Chinese faculty attend conferences abroad.

On June 7, 2016, the Ministry of Education under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping nullified the two projects by invalidating the fundamental documents "Measures for the Implementation and Management of Project 211 Construction" and "Opinions on the Continued Implementation of Project 985 Construction Projects." However, in China, the names 985 and 211 are still commonly used to refer to top universities within mainland China.

List of Project-985 universities There were 39 public universities selected by the Chinese central government. Province/MunicipalityCityUniversity Year FoundedNorthern China (10)Beijing (8)Beijing (8)Peking University1898Tsinghua University1911Renmin University of China 1937Beijing Normal University 1902Beihang University1952Beijing Institute of Technology 1940China Agricultural University1905Minzu University of China 1941Tianjin (2)Tianjin (2)Nankai University 1919Tianjin University 1895Northeastern China (4)Liaoning (2)DalianDalian University of Technology 1949ShenyangNortheastern University 1923HeilongjiangHarbinHarbin Institute of Technology1920JilinChangchunJilin University 1946Eastern China (11)Shanghai (4)Shanghai (4)Fudan University1905Shanghai Jiao Tong University1896Tongji University1907East China Normal University1951Jiangsu (2)Nanjing (2)Nanjing University1902Southeast University 1902Shandong (2)JinanShandong University 1901QingdaoOcean University of China 1924AnhuiHefeiUniversity of Science and Technology of China1958ZhejiangHangzhouZhejiang University1897FujianXiamenXiamen University1921Southern China (2)Guangdong (2)Guangzhou (2)Sun Yat-sen University 1924South China University of Technology 1952Southwestern China (3)Sichuan (2)Chengdu (2)Sichuan University1896University of Electronic Science and Technology of China1956ChongqingChongqingChongqing University1929Central China (5)Hunan (3)Changsha (3)Hunan University 1926Central South University 2000National University of Defense Technology 1953Hubei (2)Wuhan (2)Wuhan University1893Huazhong University of Science and Technology1953Northwestern China (4)Shaanxi (3)Xi'an (2)Northwestern Polytechnical University 1938Xi'an Jiaotong University1896XianyangNorthwest A&F University 1934GansuLanzhouLanzhou University 1909

Project 985

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