Hunan is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, Guizhou to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest. Its capital and largest city is Changsha, which abuts the Xiang River. Hengyang, Zhuzhou, and Yueyang are among its most populous urban cities. With a population of just over 66 million as of 2020 residing in an area of approximately 210,000 km2 (81,000 sq mi), it is China's 7th most populous province, the fourth most populous among landlocked provinces, the second most populous in South Central China after Guangdong and the most populous province in Central China. It is the largest province in South-Central China, the fourth largest among landlocked provinces, and the 10th most extensive province by area.
Changsha, Mandarin pinyin: Chángshā ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, and the third-most populous city in Central China, located in the lower reaches of the Xiang River in northeastern Hunan. Changsha is also called Xingcheng and was once named Linxiang, Tanzhou, and Qingyang (青阳) in ancient times. It is also known as Shanshuizhoucheng (山水洲城), with the Xiang River flowing through it, containing Mount Yuelu and Orange Isle. The city forms a part of the Greater Changsha Metropolitan Region along with Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, also known as Changzhutan City Cluster. Greater Changsha was named one of the 13 emerging mega-cities in China in 2012 by the Economist Intelligence Unit. It is also a National Comprehensive Transportation Hub, and one of the first National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities in China. Changshanese, a kind of Xiang Chinese, is spoken in the downtown, while Ningxiangnese and Liuyangnese are also spoken in the counties and cities under its jurisdiction. As of the 2020 Chinese census, the prefecture-level city of Changsha had a population of 10,047,914 inhabitants.
The South China University of Technology is a public university in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The university is affilaited with the Ministry of Education of China, and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the Guangdong Provincial People's Government. It is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University Plan.
Hunan University is a national public university located in Changsha, Hunan, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University Plan.
Sichuan University (SCU) is a public university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is affiliated with and sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University Plan.
Xiamen University is a national public university located in Xiamen, Fujian, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University Plan.
Central South University is a national public university in Changsha, Hunan, China. The university is affiliated with and sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China. It is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University Plan.
Guangxi University (广西大学) is a provincial public university in Nanning, Guangxi, China. It is affiliated with the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of the Double First Class University Plan and Project 211.
Project 211 was a higher education development and sponsorship scheme of the Chinese central government for preparing approximately 100 universities for the 21st century, initiated in November 1995. There were 115 universities and colleges selected to be part of this program.
Xiangtan University is a provincial public university in Xiangtan, Hunan, China. Founded in 1958, the university is affiliated with the Hunan Provincial People's Government with co-sponsorship from the Ministry of Education of China and SASTIND. The university is part of the Double First Class University Plan.
National Key Universities previously referred to universities recognized as prestigious and which received a high level of support from the central government of the People's Republic of China. The term is no longer in official use by 1990s. The term "zhòngdiǎn" 重点, translated here as "key," in this phrase can also be translated as "major," "priority," or "focal." The term "National Key Universities" then became defunct, and these schools are now normally referred to as "Double First Class Universities“, based on the China state Double First Class University Plan. However, it remains part of the vernacular, as evidenced by some Chinese media articles which still refer to "National Key Universities".
Project 985 was a higher education development and sponsorship scheme of the Chinese central government for creating world-class higher education institutions, initiated in May 1998. There were 39 universities selected to be part of this program.
Hunan Normal University, founded in 1938, is a public university in Changsha, Hunan Province. The university is the 211 Project university, one of the country's top 100 national key universities in the 21st century that enjoy priority in obtaining national funds. It is also a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university, a major government initiative to comprehensively develop a group of elite universities into "world-first-class universities" by 2050. It is particularly reputable for its concentration on teachers' education and training, foreign language studies, Chinese literature and history.
Higher education in China is the largest in the world. By the end of 2021, there were over 3,000 colleges and universities, with over 44.3 million students enrolled in mainland China and 240 million Chinese citizens having received high education. The system includes Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees, as well as non-degree programs, and is also open to foreign students.
Ningbo University is located in Jiangbei District, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. It is a provincially governed key university in Zhejiang Province. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university, identified by the Ministry of Education.
Hunan University of Science & Technology (HNUST) is an institution of higher learning in Xiangtan, Hunan of China, under the jointly jurisdiction of central government and provincial government, and is mainly administered by Hunan Province. HNUST is listed in the “Domestic First-Class Universities” of Hunan Province.
The National University of Defense Technology is a national public research university headquartered in Changsha, Hunan, China. With the predecessor founded in 1953 as the People's Liberation Army Military Academy of Engineering (中国人民解放军军事工程学院) in Harbin, the institution was officially established in 1978 in Changsha by Deng Xiaoping and is now directly affiliated with the Central Military Commission.
The World First Class UniversityandFirst Class Academic Discipline Construction (世界一流大学和一流学科建设), together known as Double First Class (双一流), is a higher education development and sponsorship scheme of the Chinese central government, initiated in 2015. The purpose of the program is to "enhance the comprehensive strength and international competitiveness of China’s higher education." The phase-specific objectives include that "an increasing number of Chinese universities and their disciplines join the ranks of world-class institutions, and a number of universities enter the forefront of global excellence, with a group of disciplines reaching the forefront of world-class standings by 2030," and "developing the Double First Class Universities into world-class higher education institutions through building and strengthening their faculties and departments by the mid-21st century." The overall strength of higher education has significantly improved. There are 147 universities and colleges nationwide selected to be part of the program by 2022.
As of 2020, China had the world's second-highest number of top universities in several most cited international rankings including the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking, the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities and the Three University Missions Ranking.
