Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU)

Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) was founded in 1896 and is one of China’s oldest higher education institutions. Known as the cradle of China’s railway engineers and “the Cornell of the East”, SWJTU is the birthplace of China’s modern education in transportation, mining & metallurgy and civil engineering. Through its history, the university has adopted different names such as “Imperial Chinese Railway College at Shanhaiguan by Beiyang Railway Bureau”, “Tangshan Jiaotong University” and “Tangshan Institute of Railway”. Since its establishment over 100 years ago, SWJTU has weathered storms amongst China’s warring past. It has undergone 18 relocations and despite the difficulties has sustained its belief in educating the young for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It upholds the mission of focused education in culture and transport, spreads the spirit of educating talents to breathe new life into the Chinese nation and of unremitting self-improvement, and maintains the tradition of academic excellence and meticulous planning and research. Thus far, the number of graduates from the university has reached nearly 300,000. The alumni include 57 academicians recognized by national governments, top research institutions and academies from both home and abroad. Among them, three are winners of China’s “Two Bombs and One Satellite Meritorious Award” and nine are engineering design pioneers. The alumni also include top researchers in the fields of academia and engineering, renowned public figures, government officials, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and numerous experts, professors and scholars who enjoy acclaim both in China and overseas. These people contribute a great deal to the nation’s rejuvenation and prosperity and benefit China’s development in railway and transportation undertakings. The late leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, once applauded the university’s academic achievements by saying that SWJTU was the birthplace for many talents such as Yang Xingfo, Zhu Kezhen and Mao Yisheng. Yang Xingfo was one of China’s famous revolutionaries who sacrificed his life for the nation; Lu Xun, China’s greatest modern writer, mourned his death by composing a poem specially dedicated to him. Zhu Kezhen was the founder of phenology and Mao Yisheng was an expert in bridge building who designed the Qiantang River Bridge, the first of its kind in modern China. Today’s SWJTU is situated in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province. The city is dubbed as the land of abundance, the homeland of the giant panda and the place of fortune and success. The university has a total area of approximately 333 hectares and has three campuses. They are the Jiuli campus, the Xipu campus and the Emei campus which is located in the Emei Mountain Scenic Area, a famous tourist destination included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO. SWJTU is a premier engineering university and is on the list of China’s first batch of 211 Project universities. It is also a university in the “985 Project Innovation Platform on Rail Transit & Transportation Engineering”. The university focuses on a balanced development of multidisciplinary subjects of engineering, science, business management, finance, arts and law. It is one of China’s top universities with a government ratified Graduate School under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education. The university leads the project to set up the “Rail Transit Safety Collaborative Innovation Center”, which is listed in the national “University Innovation Capability Enhancement Plan”, also known as the “2011 Plan”. The other titles granted by the Ministry of Education include being a member of the first batch of universities to pilot the “Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program” and the “Comprehensive Reform on Professional Degree Graduate Education”.