Double First Class University Plan

In October 2015, the State Council of China published the 'Overall Plan for Promoting the Construction of World First Class Universities and First Class Disciplines' (Double First Class University Plan), which made new arrangements for the development of higher education in China, replacing previous higher education projects.[4][8]

In June 2016, the Ministry of Education of China announced that the Project 211 and Project 985 had been abolished and replaced by the Double First Class University Initiative.[9][10]

In September 2017, the full list of the universities and their disciplines of the Double First Class University Plan was jointly published by the Ministry of Education of China, the Ministry of Finance of China and the National Development and Reform Commission of China. According to the list, 140 universities have been approved as ‘Double First Class Universities’ by the State Council of China. The Double First Class University Plan underlines that driving the overall development of universities by building and strengthening their faculties and departments, and eventually developing the 140 listed elite universities into world-class universities by 2050.[4][11][1]

The Double First Class University Plan represents a new way of ranking universities in China.[11] By 2021, the 140 Double First Class Universities accounted for roughly 4.65% of the 3,012 universities and colleges in Mainland China,[7] representing the most elite part of higher education institutions in this country.[12][13]

In December 2021, the 23rd meeting of Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission chaired by General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping deliberated and approved 'Some Suggestions on Further Promoting the Construction of World First Class Universities and First Class Disciplines'.[14]

In February 2022, the 'Some Suggestions on Further Promoting the Construction of World First Class Universities and First Class Disciplines' were jointly published by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Development and Reform Commission.[15] In addition, with the approval of the State Council of China, the updated list of "Double First Class Universities" has been released. According to the Phase 2 List of the Double First Class University Plan, the previous university classifications have been abolished,[16][17] and a total number of 147 universities have been included in the plan (accounted for 4.88% of 3,012 Chinese higher education institutions), after 7 universities newly adding into the list since February 2022.[18]

The Phase 1 list of 140 Double First Class Universities were issued by Chinese Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, and National Development and Reform Commission without any ranking within the lists (by "school code") in 2017.[1] In February 2022, the Ministry of Education of China announced that the classifications had been invalidated,[16] and the universities included in the Double First Class University Plan would be referred to as Double First Class Universities.[19][6] According to the updated Phase 2 list of the Double First Class University Plan (without any ranking within the list), a total of 147 universities have been approved and recognized as Double First Class Universities, taking up 4.88% of universities and colleges in China.[18]

The Double First Class University Plan underlines that developing the listed Chinese elite universities into world-class universities by 2050 through strengthening their developments of disciplines and faculties.[4]

On 18 September 2020, the members of "Double First Class" expert valuation group, which was headed by Lin Huiqing, Chairman of the Medical Education Expert Committee of the Ministry of Education and former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education, unanimously agreed that Tsinghua University has been fully established as a world-class university.[20]

According to the 'Phase 2 List of the Double First-Class University Initiative' jointly published by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Development and Reform Commission in February 2022, 15 Double First-Class Universities received warnings on their Double First-Class status revocation (including Anhui University, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Central China Normal University, Guangxi University, Inner Mongolia University, Liaoning University, Ningbo University, Ningxia University, Northeast Normal University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Tibet University, Third Military Medical University, Xinjiang University, Yanbian University, and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law). These 15 universities are required to rectify and improve their research qualities and development, and if the universities fail to pass the final assessment in 2023, they will lose their Double First-Class University statuses.[21][22]

• List of universities in China
• Excellence League, an alliance of leading Chinese universities with strong backgrounds in engineering
• Project 985, an abolished project of developing 39 leading research universities in China
• Project 211, an abolished program for developing China's comprehensive universities
• State Key Laboratories, a list of key laboratories receiving support from the central government of the P.R. China
• BRICS Universities League, a consortium of leading research universities from BRICS countries
• Imperial Universities, a grouping of elite older universities in Japan
• Golden Triangle (universities), a group of elite universities in the UK
• Ivy League, a formal grouping of elite private universities in the United States
• Russell Group, a grouping of research intensive universities in the UK
• TU9, alliance of nine leading Technical Universities in Germany
• SKY (universities), a group of prestigious Korean universities
• Canadian U15, a group of 15 research intensive universities in Canada
• Go8, a coalition of 8 research intensive Australian universities