Dear Faculty Members, Students, Alumni, and Friends,
As we bid farewell to the past year and welcome the new one, we extend our sincere New Year greetings to all faculty members, staff, retired colleagues, alumni at home and abroad, and friends from all sectors of society who have long supported the development of Xi’an University of Technology.
The year 2025 marked the final year of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, a crucial period for deepening comprehensive reform, and an extraordinary year in the development history of Xi’an University of Technology. Facing the significant mission of advancing toward the goal of “Double First-Class” development, the university remained committed to its fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, actively implemented the new development strategy centered on two historic transformations, upheld its distinctive strengths in serving key industries, advanced university–regional integration, and strengthened internationalized education. Through determined reform and innovation, the university achieved remarkable progress under challenging circumstances.
We strengthened Party leadership by improving institutional mechanisms to uphold the authority of the CPC Central Committee, and by thoroughly implementing the spirit of the Central Eight-Point Regulation. Through comprehensive rectification and quality enhancement initiatives, the university implemented six major actions—Leadership, Soul-Building, Vanguard, Pioneer, Integration, and New Ethos—promoting the deep integration of Party building and institutional development, further energizing faculty and students, and consolidating collective momentum for high-quality development. The university’s Party committee was selected as a pilot institution for the demonstration program of Party building among higher education institutions in Shaanxi Province.
We remained committed to talent cultivation, taking the effectiveness of moral education as the fundamental benchmark for all university work. The university advanced the Nine-Action Program for integrating knowledge and practice, established the Undergraduate Quality Education Center, and developed a comprehensive education system integrating moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education throughout the entire educational cycle. Signature initiatives such as the “Open Faith Lecture Series,” “Youth Ideological and Political Lecture Series,” “Science and Innovation Grand Lecture,” and “Knowledge and Practice Forum” were successfully launched, transforming the blueprint for student ideological and political education into tangible outcomes. The university promoted the integration of industry and education as well as the integration of science and education, optimized disciplinary and program structures, and established new academic units including the School of Mathematics, School of Ecology, Environment and Chemical Engineering, School of Optoelectronic Science and Intelligent Instrumentation, School of Integrated Circuits, and School of Cyberspace Security, providing strong support for key industrial clusters in Shaanxi Province. The university also developed a new talent cultivation framework integrating industry–education collaboration, recruitment–training–employment integration, and seamless undergraduate–master’s–doctoral education pathways. The establishment of the Future Technology Institute, the School of Excellence in Engineering, and the Interdisciplinary Modern Industrial Institute of Artificial Intelligence further strengthened organized training of top innovative talents. As the only provincial university in Shaanxi selected for the national pilot program for building a strong education system, the university was also approved as a pilot institution under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s reform initiative for innovative talent training models. Undergraduate enrollment in Shaanxi Province reached a 15-year record high. Students continued to excel in national and international competitions, winning two gold medals in the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition, further enhancing the university’s reputation for talent cultivation excellence.
We advanced reform through systematic integration of education, science and technology, and talent development mechanisms, actively aligning with regional innovation strategies. Through the innovative “Visit Ten” collaboration model, the university conducted over 600 visits and cooperation initiatives with universities, government agencies, and enterprises. The university completed the largest structural institutional reform in its history, establishing 13 new units through the creation of specialized research institutes, optimization of academic structures, and reorganization of administrative departments. New policies for professional title evaluation and appointment were implemented, performance-based salary reforms and incentive mechanisms for landmark achievements were steadily advanced, and a talent evaluation system emphasizing innovation capability, quality, effectiveness, and contribution was established, accelerating the deep integration of talent, education, innovation, and industrial development chains.
We strengthened momentum for development by placing disciplinary development at the forefront, accelerating the layout of emerging engineering disciplines, new liberal arts, and interdisciplinary fields. Engineering entered the top 1‰ of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) global ranking for the first time, becoming a strategic cornerstone for building a first-class university. Focusing on talent introduction and cultivation, the university implemented the “Talent-Driven University Development Plan,” attracting seven national-level talents, achieving an increase of over 81% in provincial-level and above high-level talents, and increasing national postdoctoral funding projects by 56.3%. Leading scholars continued to gather, and outstanding young talents emerged steadily. Guided by scientific and technological innovation, the university strengthened organized and targeted research, producing a series of high-level innovation achievements. Significant breakthroughs were made in the construction of the State Key Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Engineering in Arid Regions. The university received 43 provincial and ministerial-level science and technology awards and secured 120 national research projects, including 19 key projects, while achieving a record high in National Social Science Fund projects. Driven by international engagement, the university established long-term strategic cooperation with governments and leading enterprises, expanded global partner institutions to 100, inaugurated the China–Uzbekistan Joint Laboratory for Collaborative Innovation in Water Conservancy in Arid Regions, and established the university’s first overseas educational institution—the China–Uzbekistan International Center for Ecological Water Conservancy in Arid Regions.
We enhanced livelihood and well-being by prioritizing faculty and student satisfaction and steadily addressing key livelihood issues. Employment outcomes for the Class of 2025 improved steadily. Service integration and online administrative services were continuously optimized, with the rapid-response “Immediate Response to Requests” mechanism effectively resolving urgent concerns. The one-stop student community achieved upgraded provincial quality accreditation. The Human Resources Service Center was established, centralized evaluation of professional achievements was implemented, 56 high-frequency administrative services were fully digitized, and more than ten certification services became self-service, significantly improving convenience for faculty and students. Campus facilities underwent comprehensive upgrades, including renovations of academic buildings, dormitories, classrooms, and sports facilities, and the expansion of green spaces and cultural landscape projects. Welfare support for faculty and students was strengthened through performance salary reforms, improved medical services, expanded healthcare cooperation with Northwest Women and Children’s Hospital, and enhanced community service facilities. Basic education quality within affiliated schools continued to improve significantly, further enhancing faculty and student satisfaction and well-being.
We continued to enhance the university’s social influence through high-level academic and cultural events, including conferences on industry–education integration, national key laboratory development forums, China Brand Day Shaanxi events, and China–Central and Eastern Europe education cooperation resource matchmaking conferences. Cultural programs such as master lectures, Qin Opera cultural festivals, and labor practice weeks enriched campus life. The university received 62 reports by central-level media, appeared on China Central Television five times, and was featured 17 times in People’s Daily, Guangming Daily, and Science and Technology Daily, further enhancing the university’s reputation and visibility.
All past achievements mark a new beginning, and hope will guide us toward greater horizons. In 2026, the university will focus on the national strategy of coordinated development in education, science and technology, and talent cultivation. Guided by a people-centered development philosophy, and with moral education as the core mission, the university will prioritize high-quality development and livelihood improvement. We will continue to deepen comprehensive education reform, promote the integration of industry and education as well as science and education, enhance the capacity for independent cultivation of top innovative talents, accelerate the construction of a new disciplinary development system, build first-class innovation platforms, nurture first-class innovative talents, and produce first-class research outcomes. These efforts will strongly support high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, while introducing practical livelihood policies that enhance the sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security among faculty and students, contributing outstanding achievements to China’s goal of building a strong education system.
In the coming year, we sincerely wish everyone peace, prosperity, and happiness in the New Year.
Li Zhijun
Secretary of the CPC Committee
Liu Yunhe
President
December 31, 2025