National Key Universities (Chinese: 国家重点大学; pinyin: guójiā zhòngdiǎn dàxué) previously referred to universities recognized as prestigious and which received a high level of support from the central government of the People's Republic of China.[1] The term is no longer in official use by 1990s.[2][3] The term "zhòngdiǎn" 重点, translated here as "key," in this phrase can also be translated as "major," "priority," or "focal."[4] The term "National Key Universities" then became defunct, and these schools are now normally referred to as "Double First Class Universities“, based on the China state Double First-Class Construction.[2][5] However, it remains part of the vernacular, as evidenced by some Chinese media articles which still refer to "National Key Universities".[1][6]
The Chinese government made several batches of national key universities in history (from 1950s to 1980s).[14] From 1954 to the 1980s, 99 national key universities were identified (some have been merged into other universities).[7] The current project, established in 2015, is the Double First-Class Construction to create world-class universities by 2050.[14] In October 2015, the State Council of People's Republic of China published the 'Overall Plan for Promoting the Construction of World First-Class Universities and First-Class Disciplines (Double First-Class University Plan)' , which made new arrangements for the development of higher education in China, replacing previous projects of Chinese higher education. A total of 140 Double First Class Universities were approved to be included in the state Double First-Class Construction by the central government of China in 2017, representing the top 5% of the higher education institutions (3,012) in this country.[15][16]
As of February, 2022, the 147 Double First Class Universities are considered as the most elite part of higher education in Mainland China.[17]
^"Harbin Institute of Technology". en.hit.edu.cn. Retrieved 2022-09-10. In 1954, HIT was on the list of "first national key construction six universities." It was the only university chosen from outside of Beijing.