Xiamen University was founded in 1921 by Tan Kah Kee, the well-known patriotic overseas Chinese leader. It was the first university in China founded by an overseas Chinese. At present it is the only university in any of five special economic zones and is one of China’s higher-level universities designated for the state key construction of the “211 Project” and the “985 Project”.
Over the past eighty –six years, as the result of following the school motto “Pursue Excellence, Strive for Perfection”, Xiamen University has accumulated rich experience in offering its educational programs and has presented its distinctive features in running the programs. Equipped with a strong team of faculty and staff, Xiamen University, which provides a fairly complete range of programs of education, has become a first-class comprehensive university in China with extensive international influence. Since its founding, Xiamen University has produced more than 140,000 undergraduates and graduates for the country and over 50 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) have studied or worked at Xiamen University.
Xiamen University has a graduate school and 21 schools containing 55 departments. With 14 Doctoral degrees in first –class disciplines, and 17 Master degrees in first-class disciplines, the university offers 79 undergraduate programs, 217 graduate programs, and 131 PhD programs. 13 subjects have been assessed and awarded as “the national key disciplines”. There are 12 Post doctoral research centers, 5 subjects of “national educational centers for talents”, 8 subjects listed among the state key disciplines in the "211 Project” construction during the period of the ninth Five-year plan, 11 subjects listed among the state key disciplines in the "211 Project” construction during the period of the tenth Five-year plan and 11 subjects listed among the innovation research bases in the second phase of the “985 Project”.
Xiamen university has a high level team of faculty and staff including 2,282 full-time faculty and professional researchers , 1,329 professors and associate professors including 354 doctoral supervisors, of whom 18 are academicians of CAS and CAE (8 adjunct academicians). Moreover, 7 faculty members of Xiamen University are seated on the State Council's Academic Degree Appraisal Committee. 8 have been listed in the "One-hundred plus One-thousand plus Ten-thousand Talent Project”; 56 have been included in the Ministry of Education's training program for the "Leading Figure for the New Century"; 20 have obtained the "Science Grant for National Outstanding Youth" from the state; There are 11 special and 9 speech professorships of “Yangtze Scholar”, 2 “National Innovation Research Team” and 1 “Education Ministry Innovation Group”.
The university now has a total enrollment of over 35,000 full-time students on campus, including 20,195 undergraduates, 12,213 master students, 2,023 doctoral students, and over 1200 international students. In 2005, Xiamen University received a straight-A score in the undergraduate level Teaching Appraisal organized by the Ministry of Education.
Xiamen University has set up over 80 research institutions, including 2 State Key Laboratories, 1 State Engineering Research Center 4 Education Ministry Key Laboratories, and 5 state key research bases in humanities and social science. In 2005, the Science Park of Xiamen University was recognized as a state university science park by the Ministry of Education.
Two scientific research findings won the Second Class Prize of National Natural Science Award in 2006. 4 research reports were published in the international Science and Nature journal from 2004 to 2006. Xiamen University has strong potentiality in human and science research. Taiwan studies, Southeast Asian studies, economic studies, and accounting studies are at the highest tier among domestic universities.
Xiamen University has inter-university cooperative ties with over 100 institutions of higher education at home and abroad. Xiamen University has formally established multi-lateral cooperative relationship with seven other universities around the world by signing the Agreement on Global U7 Consortium in 2004. In 2005, there were 8 members of this group. Because of its especially favorable geographical location and advantageous human resources, it is the key university most actively engaged in cross-straits educational, scientific and cultural exchanges.
At present, Xiamen University’s 3 campuses cover over 524.5 hectares. Xiamen University has a constructed area of 1.35 million square meters and its libraries hold 4.11million volumes, including 1 million electronic volumes. The scope and level of its high-speed information network on campus is rated at the top of all universities in China and has become the one of the main injunctions of CERNET. Xiamen University is now making great strides towards its goal of "building a high-level university well-known both at home and abroad."