The predecessor of the university was Beijing Institute of Machinery and Shaanxi University of Technology. The academic origins of the two universities can be traced back to the Beiping Municipal Commercial Continuing School founded in 1919 and the National Provisional University of Xi'an established in 1937 (later renamed as the National Northwest United University). In 1972, Beijing Institute of Machinery and Shaanxi University of Technology were merged to form Shaanxi Institute of Machinery, which was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the First Machine-Building Industry. In 1994, the school was renamed as Xi’an University of Technology. In 1998, the university was transferred to the jurisdiction of Shaanxi Province, and jointly governed by the central government and Shaanxi Province, with Shaanxi Province taking the lead in management. The university marks 1949, the year when the people‘s government took over the National Peiping Advanced Industrial Vocational School (the predecessor of Beijing Institute of Machinery) as its founding anniversary, and sets May 1st as its anniversary day.
