Dalian Maritime University (DMU) is one of the largest and best maritime universities and is the only key maritime institution under the Ministry of Communications, People’s Republic of China. DMU enjoys a high reputation internationally as an excellent center of maritime education and training as recognized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The long history of the University can be traced back to 1909, when the Nanyang Institute in Shanghai established a Shipping Management Section. Chinese higher maritime education went through many difficult periods and was not well developed before the founding of the people’s Republic of China in 1949.
DMU was created in 1953 through the amalgamation of three merchant marine institutions: Shanghai Nautical College, the Northeast Navigation College and Fujian Navigation School. At that time its name was Dalian Marine College, and it was the only maritime college in China. In 1960, DMU was designated a national key institution of higher education. Later in 1983, the Asia-Pacific Region Maritime Training Center was established at DMU by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the IMO and in 1985 a branch of the World Maritime University (WMU) was established.
With the approval of the Ministry of Education in 1994, the Univrsity’s name was changed to the present one. In 1998, the University was awarded the ISO9001 Certificate of Quality Assurance accredited by the Norwegian Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and the China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA); it became the first maritime university in China to have the ISO9001 Certificate. In 2004, the University successfully passed the quality assessment of undergraduate teaching by the Ministry of Education. Through continual development, DMU has been at the forefront of similar universities both in broadening the scope and in enhancing the level of its programs.
The great results DMU has achievd and the reputation DMU enjoys both at home and abroad are highly valued by the leaders of China. On August 22nd and October 20th in 1993, the Chinese Government leaders, fomer President Jiang Zemin, Vice President Zeng Qinhong, Premier Wen Jiabao, and Vice Premier Li Lanqing, respectively, inspected DMU. Former President Jiang wrote a few words of encouragement for DMU:”Be steadfast, rigorous, industrious, and pioneering in order to build the University into one of the preeminent maritime universities in the world”.
In 1997, DMU began the National Project 211, a plan to build one hundred national-level universities in China.