China Three Gorges University

With approval from the Ministry of Education, China Three Gorges University was established on June 29, 2000, through the merger of the former Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electric Engineering (Yichang) and Hubei Three Gorges College. Its history dates back to 1923. It began offering undergraduate education in 1978 and postgraduate and international student education in 1996. It is authorized to award bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees and to recruit Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC) students. In 2009, the Ministry of Water Resources and the People’s Government of Hubei Province signed an agreement to jointly support the university. In 2010, it was recognized by the Hubei Provincial Government as an Advanced Institution in Expanding Openness, and in 2014 the Ministry of Education named it a demonstration base for international education in China. It has become a comprehensive university with clear hydropower characteristics and strengths, strong overall capabilities and an established social reputation.

The university has 30 schools and 72 undergraduate programs across 9 categories: science, engineering, literature, medicine, economics, management, law, education and the arts. These include 5 national distinctive undergraduate programs, 10 provincial flagship undergraduate programs, 7 programs approved under the national Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program, 10 English-taught undergraduate programs and 2 Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs. It has doctoral degree authorization in 2 first-level disciplines, master’s degree authorization in 23 first-level disciplines, 17 professional master’s degree authorizations including engineering, business administration (MBA) and translation and interpreting, and 11 provincial first-level key disciplines. It has 22293 regular full-time undergraduates, 4266 doctoral and master’s students and 1365 international students.

It has 2 national experimental teaching demonstration centers, 2 national engineering practice education centers, 1 National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station for Landslides in the Yangtze Three Gorges, Hubei, 1 Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Geological Hazards in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, 1 Ministry of Education Engineering Technology Research Center for Ecology and Environment in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, and 1 Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Geological Hazards and Ecological Environment in the Three Gorges Region. Its 7 provincial or ministerial key laboratories cover disaster prevention and mitigation, hydropower construction and management, hydropower machinery design and maintenance, natural product research and utilization, cascade hydropower station operation and control, intelligent visual monitoring for hydropower engineering, and tumor microcirculation and immunotherapy. It also has 2 former State Power Corporation key laboratories, for hydropower station simulation and geotechnical engineering research, 19 experimental or practical teaching centers, and 8 provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers. It has more than 160 on- and off-campus practical teaching and industry-university-research cooperation bases.

The university promotes development through openness, undertakes international cooperation and exchange at multiple levels and across broad fields, and pursues internationalization. It draws on advanced overseas educational thinking and experience, introduces quality resources, promotes educational reform, and emphasizes developing talent with international educational backgrounds, enhancing its international standing, influence and competitiveness. In 2011, it became one of 52 Chinese institutions qualified to admit international students to an English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine program, and its Chinese-foreign cooperative undergraduate program in electrical engineering and automation received Ministry of Education approval. In 2013, it gained authorization to admit Hong Kong students without an entrance examination. In 2014, its cooperative undergraduate tourism management program received ministry approval. In recent years, it has invited 3 Nobel laureates in science to lecture and receives an average of 70 international visiting delegations, nearly one thousand visits, each year. It has extensive external cooperation and maintains close contacts with diplomats from the United States, France, Nepal, the Maldives, South Korea, India, Pakistan and other countries. In May 2013, it successfully hosted the “Renowned Scientists Lecture in Hubei-Wuhan Forum.” Visits by world-renowned scholars and government officials have greatly advanced its international cooperation and reputation. In 2013, it hosted the major fifth competition-zone event of the nine-region Sunshine Sports Tour for International Students in China, under the Study in China sports program. It also regularly organizes activities such as the Peach Blossom Cultural Festival and the Happy Friday (T.G.I.F) English cultural salon, enriching its international atmosphere. The university is implementing the educational planning outline and advancing substantive development. It is pursuing four strategies–distinctive development, reform and innovation, open education, and cultural leadership–to achieve its goal of becoming a high-level comprehensive university with distinctive hydropower strengths.