On April 15, ShanghaiRanking, a leading global higher education evaluation organization, officially released the 2026 ShanghaiRanking Best Chinese Universities Ranking. Xi’an University of Technology ranked 111th among Chinese universities and 46th among science and engineering universities.
For many years, the University has consistently prioritized disciplinary development, actively followed academic frontiers, served major national strategies, integrated disciplinary strengths and resources, and promoted interdisciplinary integration. Its disciplinary features and strengths have gradually become more prominent, while its core competitiveness and international influence have continued to increase significantly.
XUT has a complete and distinctive disciplinary system. It currently offers 15 first-level doctoral degree authorization disciplines, 4 professional doctoral degree programs, 27 first-level master’s degree authorization disciplines, and 13 professional master’s degree programs, forming a high-quality disciplinary ecosystem with engineering as the main focus and coordinated development across multiple disciplines. Engineering ranks among the top 1‰ globally in ESI, while seven disciplines, including Materials Science, Environment/Ecology, Computer Science, Chemistry, Agricultural Science, and Geoscience, rank among the top 1% globally in ESI. A total of 32 programs have been selected as National First-Class Undergraduate Major Development Programs, and 21 programs have passed engineering education accreditation or evaluation, demonstrating the University’s strong professional foundations and close alignment with industry needs.
Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the University has achieved remarkable progress in faculty and talent development. It has cultivated more than 150 national- and provincial-level talents and teams, recruited nearly 400 doctoral faculty members, and established 13 academician cooperation platforms, further strengthening the leading role of high-level talents. The University has undertaken more than 3,220 vertical research projects supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Water Resources, and other national and ministerial departments, including over 920 national-level projects such as National Key R&D Program projects, major scientific instrument development projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and major projects supported by the National Social Science Fund of China. It has also signed more than 5,520 commissioned horizontal research contracts with leading enterprises and research institutes inside and outside Shaanxi Province, including over 320 research contracts valued at more than RMB 1 million each. The University has obtained more than 4,440 authorized national invention patents and 58 authorized international invention patents, with 1,502 intellectual property rights transferred or licensed, ranking among the top universities in Shaanxi in terms of commercialization volume. It has received three National Science and Technology Awards and more than 190 provincial and ministerial-level research awards. The University has built more than 60 high-level research platforms, including the State Key Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Protection in Arid-Region Water Engineering, key laboratories of the Ministry of Education, and key laboratories of Shaanxi Province, continuously enhancing its research innovation capacity and ability to serve national strategies.
The quality of talent cultivation at XUT has steadily improved. Students have won multiple national gold awards and more than 1,000 provincial-level and above awards in major competitions such as the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition, the “Challenge Cup” National College Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition, and the China Graduate Innovation and Practice Competitions. In particular, XUT has won six national gold awards in the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition, ranking first among provincial universities in Shaanxi. The University has also been recognized for several consecutive years as an Outstanding Contributor to the China Graduate Innovation and Practice Competitions. XUT was selected as one of the first 39 national pilot universities for comprehensive higher education reform by the Ministry of Education and is the only provincial university in Northwest China included in the program. Focusing on curriculum-based ideological and political education, educational digitalization, and industry-education integration, the University has continuously improved its top innovative talent cultivation system and achieved notable reform outcomes. International cooperation in education has also continued to deepen. XUT has established partnerships with 100 universities and research institutions worldwide and built the International Engineering College, forming a comprehensive international talent cultivation framework.
Moving forward, XUT will continue to align with major national needs and scientific frontiers, optimize and adjust its disciplinary structure, accelerate interdisciplinary integration, further strengthen organized research, and focus on key, emerging, and interdisciplinary fields. The University will continue to enhance its research level and international influence, fully consolidate its comprehensive educational strength and core competitiveness, and strive toward the new round of “Double First-Class” development, with the goal of becoming a first-class, high-level research university in China with distinctive characteristics and international influence.
Further Reading
ShanghaiRanking’s Best Chinese Universities Ranking, formerly known as ShanghaiRanking’s Ranking of Best Chinese Universities, was first released in 2015. With its professional, objective, and transparent methodology, it has gained wide attention and recognition both within and beyond the higher education sector and has become a leading university ranking brand in China with important social influence and authoritative reference value. To appropriately reflect differences in institutional nature and university type, ensure fairness, and fully demonstrate professional strengths and educational characteristics, ShanghaiRanking adopts differentiated indicator systems for categorized rankings. The 2026 ShanghaiRanking Best Chinese Universities Ranking includes one main ranking for comprehensive universities, seven discipline-specific rankings, four rankings for non-public universities, and a list of art institutions. More than 1,000 universities are classified into corresponding rankings or lists according to institutional nature and type. The Ministry of Education has made it clear that in 2026 China will further optimize the structural layout of higher education, regard the categorized promotion of university reform as a major strategic task, and launch a new round of “Double First-Class” development. The new round will focus on major national strategic needs and regional industrial development, placing greater emphasis on categorized development, distinctive breakthroughs, and moderate expansion. ShanghaiRanking’s Best Chinese Universities Ranking aims to reflect the core missions of Chinese universities and respond to societal expectations of universities. With emphasis on talent cultivation and service to the nation, it provides a multi-dimensional, monitoring-based evaluation of Chinese universities, serving as an important reference for institutions to clarify their positioning and optimize educational development.