Situated in Xuzhou, which has a lot to offer historically and culturally in terms of Han Dynasty culture and blending characters of southern grace and northern majesty, Jiangsu Normal University (JSNU) is one of the top universities in Jiangsu Province, jointly sponsored and administrated by the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government and China’s Ministry of Education (MOE). JSNU traces its origins to 1952, when it was founded in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, with Mr. Liu Xiansheng, an eminent lieutenant general, as its first president. In 1956, the institution was officially included into the national enrollment system of higher education. Jiangsu Normal Junior College was established in 1957. In 1958, to support the development of northern Jiangsu, the college was relocated north to Xuzhou. In 1959, it acquired Xuzhou Normal Junior College (formerly Yunhe Normal Junior College) to launch Xuzhou Teachers College. In the early 1960s, amid a nationwide restructuring of higher education institutions, it was Premier Zhou Enlai’s instruction (“Xuzhou, given its vast territory, deserves to host a university”) that retained the institution in Xuzhou.From then on, it took root in northern Jiangsu and struggled to grow strong steadily. In 1979, the university began to offer master’s degree programs, and in 1981, it was put on the list of the first group of Chinese universities authorized to confer master’s degrees.In 1989, Xuzhou Normal Junior College (formerly Xuzhou Municipal Teachers’ Training College) was merged into the University. In 1996, it was renamed as Xuzhou Normal University. In 1999, the University acquired Xuzhou Industrial School, previously supervised by China’s Ministry of Coal Industry. The University was renamed as Jiangsu Normal University in 2011. In 2012, JSNU was approved to undertake the Doctoral Program for Special National Demands. In 2024, it was officially accredited as a doctoral degree-conferring institution. JSNU is among the third group of National Civilized Institutions. It was among the first winners of the National Civilized Campus and has retained the honor ever since. On top of that, it has been awarded Jiangsu Provincial Civilized Institutions consecutively ten times by the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government.

In its more than 70-year history, JSNU has nurtured a large group of “great educators”with the ethos of “making teacher ethics as the soul, academics as the foundation, and education as the mission.” They are represented by Professor Liao Xudong, a famous Chinese linguist; Professor Wu Benxing, a celebrated poet and leading scholar of modern Chinese literature; Professor Wang Jinshan, a playwright and historian of ancient Chinese literature; Professor Wu Ruyu, a leading authority in classical Chinese literature; Professor Liu Baichuan, a prominent educator; Professor Zhang Huanting, a distinguished psychologist; Professor Zang Yunpu, a noted historian; and Professor Luo Qixiang, an eminent geographer. With profound scholarship, they nourished generations of students; with noble spirit, they inspired their followers. They stood out as role models for the JSNU community in carrying forward the spirit of great educators and cultivating patriotism and national responsibility. In the new era, JSNU carries forward the spiritual legacy of these great educators and deepens its strategy to attract and cultivate talent. A growing number of renowned scholars have been gathering here, devoting themselves to academic research and mentoring young scholars. JSNU has gradually developed a high-caliber faculty structure integrating senior, middle-aged, and young scholars, with a balanced mix of full-time and adjunct appointments. Looking back on more than half a century of an extraordinary journey, the University has always been keeping pace with the times and advancing in tandem with the development of China’s educational cause. Generations of JSNU faculty and students have carried forward this legacy, guided by the university motto: “Virtue, Knowledge, Ambition and Action”. On the grand journey of making China a great education powerhouse, they are forging ahead with steadfast resolve, leaving progressive and distinctive marks.

The university has four campuses: Quanshan, Yunlong, Kuiyuan and Jiawang. It houses 20 specialized schools (departments), along with CW Chu College, the School of Continuing Education, and the International College. It also established the JSNU-SPbPU Institute of Engineering (China’s first non-independent legal entity Sino-foreign cooperative education institution approved by the MOE) and Kewen College, an independent college under JSNU. Currently, JSNU offers 66 undergraduate programs, 2 first-layer discipline doctorate degree programs (Chinese Language and Literature, Mathematics), 31 first-layer discipline master’s degree programs, 20 professional master’s degree programs, and 1 postdoctoral research station, covering 11 academic disciplines. The University is also authorized to confer master’s degrees on applicants with equivalent academic qualifications and postgraduate recommendation eligibility. The University has 1,896 full-time faculty members, among whom 1,032 hold senior professional titles. Of all full-time faculty, 66.6% hold doctoral degrees, and 36.1% have overseas study or research experience. It is home to over 25,300 full-time undergraduates, more than 7,700 doctoral and master’s students, and over 900 international students. Since its founding, the university has produced more than 350,000 graduates. Many of its alumni are active players in politics, economics, culture, science and technology, and education at home and abroad.

In 2021, JSNU was selected for the “High-Quality Normal Universities Project” under the 14th “Five-Year Plan” Advancement Program for Making China a Great Education Powerhouse. In 2022, it was accepted as a supporting institution under the MOE’s Collaborative Quality Enhancement Initiatives for Teacher Cultivation. To date, the university has won 11 National Teaching Achievement Awards, 73 Jiangsu Provincial Teaching Achievement Awards, 1 National Postgraduate Education Achievement Award, and 22 Postgraduate Cultivation (Teaching) Achievement Awards from the National Steering Committee for Postgraduate Education of Professional Degrees. Eleven of its high-quality teaching resources have been included in the National Higher Education Smart Education Platform. It has been approved to develop 24 national first-class undergraduate programs, 4 national characteristic undergraduate programs, and 16 provincial first-class undergraduate programs. It has formed 4 national, ministerial and provincial-level teaching teams, and 5 outstanding provincial university teaching teams. 34 of its undergraduate courses have been rated as national first-class, 6 national high-quality resource-sharing courses, and 1 national demonstration course for curriculum ideology and politics. It has published 8 national excellent and planned textbooks, won 2 second prizes for National Excellent Coursebooks (Basic Education category), and one faculty member has received the honorary title of “National Advanced Individual in Coursebook Development”. It has established 1 MOE virtual laboratory, secured 3 projects in the first batch of Research and Reform Practice Projects for New Liberal Arts by the MOE, 1 high-level talent training project under the second batch of Research and Practice Projects for New Engineering by the MOE, and 1 MOE “Virtual Teaching Research Office for Linguistics Courses”. It has undertaken 1 national off-campus practice base for college students and 1 reform project under the MOE Excellent Teacher Training Program.It boasts 2 demonstration centers for national experimental teaching, 1 national teaching center for virtual simulation experiments, 2 national virtual simulation experimental teaching projects and 1 “golden course” in national virtual simulation experiments. The MOE and the State Language Commission have designated JSNU as one of the first group of “National Language Commission Training Bases for Language Application”and the only national training institution in the discipline of “Classic Recitation Education”. It has also been recognized as a “State-level Model University for Language Standardization” and a “State-level Language Promotion Base”.

Currently, 10 of its disciplines are included in the 2025 Shanghai Ranking’s Best Chinese Subjects Ranking, among which Chinese Language and Literature ranks in the top 12%. In addition, ten of its disciplines — Chemistry, Engineering, Materials Science, Mathematics, General Social Sciences, Computer Science, Plant & Animal Science, Agricultural Sciences, Environment / Ecology and Geoscience — ranked among the global top 1% in the ESI rankings. Eight of its disciplines have been added to the Jiangsu Provincial Prestigious Discipline Development Project (Phase IV), and 10 of its disciplines have been approved as Jiangsu Provincial Key Disciplines for the 14th Five-Year Plan. The University has established 43 ministerial and provincial-level research platforms, including province-and-ministry jointly sponsored collaborative innovation centers and science and technology innovation platforms under the National Development and Reform Commission. Its Language Science Laboratory has also been put on the list of Philosophy and Social Sciences Laboratories of Jiangsu Provincial Universities. Over the past five years, JSNU has secured 363 national research projects, including 160 from the National Social Science Fund (7 major projects, 2 leading-talent projects, and 10 key projects) and 203 from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (1 Distinguished Young Scientist grant and 2 Outstanding Young Scientist grants). Its faculty members have published 22 papers in top international journals, including Science Advances, Nature Communications, and PNAS.The University has won 53 ministerial and provincial-level research awards, including the Excellent Research Achievements Award for Higher Education from the MOE. Forty-eight teaching cases have been added to the National Professional Degree Teaching Case Center. Four monographs have been included in the National Achievements Library of Philosophy and Social Sciences. The university has established 2 key cultivation think tanks of Jiangsu Province. It has produced a series of influential think tank outputs on Belt and Road initiative studies and regional socio-economic development. Its Handbook on the Language Profiles of Countries Along the Belt and Road Routeswon the first “China’s Outstanding Report Award for Think Tank Academic Achievements ”.

JSNU prioritizes collaborative innovation across government, industry, academia, and research; strengthens original innovation and integrated research breakthroughs; encourages interdisciplinary integration; and strives to serve high-quality national and regional development. It has deepened strategic university-local institution cooperation and has been selected as one of the first provincial “Dual-High Collaboration”pilot institutions. Aligned with Jiangsu’s “51010”strategic emerging industrial cluster system and Xuzhou’s “535” modern industrial system, the university is accelerating the “dual-entity” co-development of R&D platforms with leading enterprises, including key laboratories, collaborative innovation centers, and engineering (technology) centers, to make technological breakthroughs and commercialize research findings. It has jointly established 66 new R&D institutions and various industry-university-research cooperation bases with cities, including Xuzhou, Lianyungang, Taizhou and others. Its technology transfer center has been designated a National Technology Transfer Demonstration Organization. The University Science and Technology Park has been honored as a National University Science Park, a National Science and Technology Business Incubator, and a National University Student Sci-Tech Entrepreneurship Internship Base. As a major contributor, JSNU launched the Consortium for Excellent Rural Teachers Cultivation in the Huaihai Economic Zone.It has been approved to host the first IELTS test center in the Huaihai Economic Zone.

As one of the first group of Chinese universities authorized to accept international students, JSNU is home to students from 76 countries and regions to date. Authorized by the Government Scholarships Council (CSC), JSNU is offering quite a few Chinese government scholarship programs, and it is honored as an “Ideal Destination for International Students in Jiangsu” by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education. It has also been selected by the MOE in exchange programs for teachers and students between mainland and China’s Hong Kong / Macao higher education institutions. JSNU has led the establishment of the Consortium for China (Jiangsu)-Latin American Universities and the Consortium for Jiangsu-Russian Universities Cooperation. It earned its memberships of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Universities and the BRICS Universities League and other international universities consortia, and has established friendly cooperative relations with 161 universities in countries including the U.K., the U.S., Australia, Russia and others. It has been recognized as an advanced Chinese partner institution for Confucius Institutes. In Malaysia, JSNU set up the world’s first overseas Mencius Institute. It has established 7 overseas branches of the Belt and Road Institute and 5 overseas preparatory centers for international students to study in China.It houses the Belt and Road Institute (CIS Studies Center), the Center for Pakistan Studies, the Center for Australia Studies, and the Base for China-Latin America People-to-People Exchanges, three of which have been included in the MOE’s list of national and regional research centers. It has jointly built research platforms with prestigious foreign universities, including Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It is offering some joint programs with universities in the U.S., U.K., Russia and other countries by means of joint-operation and mutual credit transfer.

The University has been honored as one of the 3rd National Model Universities for Peer Mental Health Support, a National Service Base for College Student Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Employment, and a National Employability Training Base for College Graduates. JSNU students have won numerous high-level awards, including the Gold Award in the China College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, the Grand Prize in the “Challenge Cup” National College Student Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Competition, the Gold Award in the “Challenge Cup” Chinese College Students’ Entrepreneurship Plan Competition, the China Adolescents Science & Technology Innovation Award, the title of“Star of Self-improvement for Chinese College Students”, the Gold Award in the China Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition, and the First Prize in the National College Students Art Exhibition and Performance. Postgraduate students have won 39 First Prizes in the “Tin Ka Ping Cup” National Teaching Skills Competition for Full-time Master Students in Pedagogy, and 14 Grand Prizes in the Jiangsu Provincial Practical Innovation Competence Competition for Master Students of Pedagogy. In addition, 89 master’s theses have been recognized as Excellent Master’s Degree Theses of Jiangsu Province.Entrusted by the MOE, JSNU organizes the national college student summer social practice and volunteer service program “Promoting Mandarin to Boost Rural Revitalization”. Media outlets, including CCTV News Broadcast and People’s Daily, have widely covered its volunteer service and social practice initiatives. Pioneering an integrated sports and education training model for high-level athletes, JSNU has produced 37 football players to the Jiangsu Football City League. Its football teams swept the championships of both the High-level Men’s Division and High-level Women’s Division at the “Governor’s Cup” for Jiangsu Provincial Universities Football League (2025). Notably, the women’s football team claimed the runner-up title at the first National Football League for Football Majors. The university has achieved remarkable results in promoting high-quality and full employment for its graduates.

Initiated in Wuxi and built from the ground up, JSNU has weathered decades of trials and tribulations. Its mission to impart knowledge and edify minds has never faltered, and its venerable educational legacy has been passed on unceasingly. Meticulously charting a grand blueprint for development and unfolding a splendid chapter of educational progress, it stays committed to fostering virtue through education, places equal importance on moral integrity and academic competence, and updates its educational philosophy with the times. With pioneering spirit and high aspirations, the JSNUers are forging ahead to focus on the key tasks of reform, expansion, transformation and upgrading, and striving to deliver high-quality development results. Going forward, JSNU continues to embody its campus spirit of “Integrity, Innovation, Principle and Practice”. It is advancing the coordinated and integrated development of the trinity of education, science and technology, and talent, and marching steadily toward its goal of a regional high-level university with distinctive features. In doing so, it will devote its utmost efforts to making China a great education powerhouse and securing Jiangsu an education powerhouse province.