Dalian Maritime University

Dalian Maritime University is a national key university under the Ministry of Transport and a key university under Project 211 and the Double First-Class initiative. Known as the “cradle of navigators,” it is a renowned Chinese maritime higher education institution and one of the few maritime universities recognized by the International Maritime Organization as enjoying an international reputation. Located in southwestern Dalian, a famous northern Chinese coastal city, it covers 1463100 square meters, with 161 buildings totaling 1205900 square meters. Its 2 libraries hold 2.5310 million printed and 2.3091 million electronic volumes and provide study and discussion spaces for varied needs. It has 2 oceangoing teaching and training ships, Yukun and Yupeng. Yukun is China’s first independently developed and designed oceangoing training ship and has visited South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan, making major contributions to international exchange and cooperation. Yupeng, China’s first independently designed and built training vessel in the second generation of modern multipurpose oceangoing ships, entered service on November 27, 2015. It supports teaching in engineering and control, navigation science and technology, marine engineering and environmental engineering, as well as maritime professional practice and transport information research experiments. In July 2024, Xin Hongzhuan, the world’s first dual-purpose ship combining intelligent research with practical teaching and training, was delivered. It integrates remote control, autonomous navigation and training, with 6 intelligent systems including navigation and platform systems. Deep integration of navigation, machinery and electrical equipment enables autonomous operation and makes major contributions to teaching and research practice.

The university focuses its talent development on the sea and firmly implements the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education. Its disciplines span 8 categories: philosophy, economics, law, literature, science, engineering, management and interdisciplinary studies, with 22 teaching and research units. It has 54 undergraduate programs awarding degrees in engineering, management, law, economics, literature and science, 80% of which directly serve the maritime industrial chain. It offers doctoral degrees in 10 first-level disciplines and 2 professional categories, master’s degrees in 25 first-level disciplines and 16 professional categories, and 7 postdoctoral research stations. It has 18446 full-time undergraduates, 10588 postgraduate students, 1716 full-time teachers, 62 national high-level talent selections and 3 national innovation teams.

The university pursues sea-oriented open development and diverse cooperation. It participates deeply in international maritime education and has served three terms on the executive board of the International Association of Maritime Universities, whose membership currently includes 83 renowned maritime institutions and related organizations in 45 countries. It has partnerships with 179 universities and research institutions in 51 countries and regions. In 2007, it established an overseas campus in Sri Lanka and began recruiting, marking the first overseas expansion of China’s higher maritime education. Its cooperative undergraduate law program with Swansea University in the United Kingdom aims to set a model across multiple levels of cooperation. It participates extensively in international maritime affairs. Over the past two years, its personnel have made 81 attendances at International Maritime Organization meetings as lead negotiators and advisers to China’s delegation and completed 172 IMO proposals. Its proposals on maritime greenhouse gas reductions and operational ship energy efficiency account for at least 90% of China’s submissions in those fields. It was the first to undertake IMO model course development on China’s behalf, moving from participating to leading with Chinese solutions. Two consecutive IMO secretaries-general have received honorary doctorates from the university. Former Secretary-General Kitack Lim praised its achievements as a global center of maritime education excellence as a source of pride for China and a model of outstanding maritime education.

Since admitting its first international students in 1955, it has received more than one thousand international students across programs from over one hundred countries and regions. As times and needs have changed, international admissions programs have continually expanded. Current offerings mainly include undergraduate, postgraduate, undergraduate preparatory, Chinese-language, specialist study and short-term study tour programs. In 1995, the Ministry of Education recognized it as one of the first host institutions for the Chinese Government Scholarship Program. It has established High-Level Postgraduate and Silk Road scholarship programs, the Chinese Government Ministry of Transport Special Scholarship, and the Liaoning Provincial Government independent recruitment scholarship. It also admits self-funded international degree and non-degree students. Degree offerings include 54 undergraduate programs, 39 Chinese-taught postgraduate programs and 25 English-taught postgraduate programs in fields including navigation, marine engineering, marine electrical engineering, information, transport, shipping economics, naval architecture and ocean engineering, environmental science and engineering, and law. A dedicated international student teaching building has advanced language laboratories, multimedia and specialist classrooms and other modern facilities, supported by a strong faculty to meet international students’ study needs.