History. Hangzhou City University (HZCU) is a full-time public university approved by the China's Ministry of Education, organized by Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government and supported by Zhejiang University. It was established in 1999, originally registered under the name of Zhejiang University City College. In June 2020, Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government and Zhejiang University signed a cooperation agreement to exceptionally support its leap-forward development so that HZCU would make it to China’s top 100 universities in ten years.
Scale. HZCU is located in Hangzhou, a famous historical and cultural city and a well-known scenic tourist destination in China, and is adjacent to Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, one of the World Cultural Heritage sites. Its campus covers a land area of about 67 hectares, with a floor space of over 510,000 square meters. HZCU consists of 13 schools and 1 Sino-foreign Joint Institute. It offers 42 undergraduate programs covering 9 discipline, including economics, liberal arts, literature, history, science, engineering, medicine, management, and art. There are more than 11,500 full-time undergraduate students, and about 290 postgraduate students jointly educated by HZCU and other universities, such as Zhejiang University. HZCU has built a well-structured and competent faculty team, led by academicians and supported by outstanding professors at national and provincial levels. It has 1,200-plus faculty and staff members. Among the full-time faculty members, nearly 45% hold senior professional titles; more than 60% hold doctoral degrees; and 16 are national and provincial high-level talents.
Talent Cultivation. HZCU aims to foster virtue and cultivate high-quality, compound and innovative talents. With the strong sense of social responsibility, wisdom of practice, solid professional foundation, and high aptitude, HZCU students will be able to contribute to the regional and national social and economic development. HZCU has 2 national first-class undergraduate programs, 7 first-class disciplines and key disciplines at the provincial level, 18 provincial first-class programs, key programs and featured programs, and 6 provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers. In recent years, HZCU has constructed 108 national and provincial first-class undergraduate courses. As a provincial class innovation university, it has won 2 prizes of the National Teaching Achievement Award and 3 first prizes of the Provincial Teaching Achievement Award. HZCU has been innovating in the talent cultivation mechanism to nurture compound and practice-oriented talents by setting up the “Truth-Seeking Eaglet Class" (in collaboration with Zhejiang University). HZCU also start the "Innovation Class on Urban Digital Governance,” including the “Digital Governance Class”, the “Digital Trade Class”, and the “Digital Culture and Tourism Class,” etc. In August 2022, HZCU was officially authorized to confer master's degrees, with 3 professional master's degree conferring stations, marking a breakthrough in the level of education.
Scientific Research. In response to national strategies and major local development needs, HZCU advances the construction of an education-research-innovation complex. To date, it has set up more than 30 university-level research institutions led by academicians and high-level academic leading talents, including the City Brain Research Institute, the Happy City Research Institute, the Brain and Cognition Research Institute, the Future City Research Institute, the Institute of Civilization and Communication, the History Research Center, the Technology Innovation Center for Advanced Materials Additive Manufacturing, the Smart Transportation Engineering Research Center, the Supercomputing Center, and the Cryogenic Center. It has 2 provincial key laboratories, 1 provincial engineering laboratory, 4 provincial engineering research centers and 1 provincial Maxism religion research base.
Social Service. HZCU offers social services through government-industry-university-research collaboration. Based in Hangzhou, it aims to serve Zhejiang, and additionally seek opportunities throughout the nation. It has established strategic cooperation with Xihu District, Binjiang District, Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, Party School of CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee, Hangzhou Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Hangzhou Communications Investment Group, Sugon, H3C, Hangzhou Oxygen Plant Group Co., Ltd., and Ssaw Hotels & Resorts. Through these cooperations, 2 industry-themed colleges and a number of high-level R&D platforms have been created. In addition, HZCU’s Continuing Education School offers education and training opportunities to the general public.
Cultural Inheritance and Innovation. HZCU inherits the truth-seeking tradition and absorbs Hangzhou's exquisite, harmonious, inclusive and open spirit. It has shaped a pioneering spirit, and established a culture system by integrating historical heritage, era characteristics and HZCU features. It has created some popular campus culture brands, such as HZCU Lecture Series, City Ideal, Starlight Culture, Starlight Lecture, Calligraphy Campus, and General Survey of Hangzhou.
International Exchange and Cooperation. HZCU adheres to open education and actively promotes internationalized education. To leverage overseas high-quality education resources, HZCU has taken a range of actions. It has established a Sino-foreign cooperative education institution with the University of Waikato, New Zealand, which successfully passed the evaluation of the Chinese Ministry of Education in 2022; cooperated with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, Nagasaki International University, Japan, and Nottingham Trent University, UK, on 6 dual degree programs; signed exchange and cooperation agreements with nearly 70 colleges and universities in U.S.A., Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand, other countries and regions; founded the International Institute for Health Science with Loma Linda University and Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, affiliated with Zhejiang University School of Medicine, which has set a precedent for the undergraduate training in dental hygiene in China. High-quality international education resources and a multicultural learning environment enable students to develop their interests, perspectives and abilities.
(Data as of: April 2023)
