SW China’s Chongqing Invests over 600 Million USD in Universities in Five Years

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), Chongqing's universities received an investment of more than four billion yuan (over 600 million U.S. dollars) from the city for the Double First-Class Initiative.

A picture of Chongqing University.

As of now, the number of Chongqing's universities entering the top 1% of the discipline ranking of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) has increased from 9 at the beginning of 2016 to 43, and a total of 24 new authorization locations for the doctorate and 63 ones for the master's degree have been added.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Chongqing achieved breakthroughs in its ability to boost development, and the number of enrolled postgraduates increased from 52,156 in 2016 to 72,562 in 2020, with an annual growth rate of more than 10%.

More than 2/3 of the three major national awards, including the State Natural Science Award, State Technological Invention Award, and State Scientific and Technological Progress Award that the city received, were won by its universities.

Meanwhile, Chongqing’s universities also undertook more than 95% of the National Natural Science Foundation of China programs. They introduced a large number of original and significant scientific and technological innovation achievements.

During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, more than 23,000 patents were granted to the city's universities, including 36 foreign patents and 7,479 for invention; they also signed 3,609 contracts for technical transformation, with the amount reaching 1,492 million yuan.