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The first round of Double First-Class: what the Ministry said about it

Sources checked · Unofficial summary

An official of the Ministry of Education, answering reporters' questions in a press Q&A dated 14 February 2022, said the first round of the Double First-Class construction (2016 to 2020) had moved forward strongly but still left problems to solve. The official said the first round had overall met its interim goals across eight areas. The official also said the assessment grouped results by range and grade, without total scores or rankings.

For the list of universities itself, see this directory's section page. This page covers questions 1, 3 and 8 of the press Q&A and the notice that published the second-round list. The English is this site's translation of Chinese texts. The official texts are in Chinese, and the Chinese text prevails if they differ. The official lists are in Chinese. This directory's English names for institutions and disciplines are its own renderings.

The notice that published the second-round list

The notice was issued jointly by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission, under the number 教研函〔2022〕1号, and it is dated 9 February 2022. Its annex 1 is the second-round list of universities and construction disciplines. Annex 2 is the list of first-round construction disciplines given public warning, including revocation.

The notice says the list was certified by an expert committee. The three ministries then studied it and submitted it to the State Council for approval. The notice cites the State Council's Overall Plan for building world-class universities and first-class disciplines, and two implementing documents of the three ministries.

The notice states that 北京大学 and 清华大学 set their own construction disciplines in the second round and published them themselves. It also states that first-round disciplines given public warning shall strengthen rectification and be evaluated in 2023.

The list described here is the second-round list issued on 9 February 2022 (教研函〔2022〕1号). Confirm any entry against the current official list before relying on it.

What the official said about the first round

In question 1 of the press Q&A, the official said the first round, carried out from 2016 to 2020, pushed work forward and produced clear results. The official said it moved higher education toward a new historical starting point for building a strong higher-education nation.

The official also named three problems that still existed:

  • the supply of high-level innovative talent was insufficient;
  • service to national strategic needs was not precise enough;
  • resource allocation needed urgent optimization.

The official said that in the new development stage, the construction should give more prominence to key points and difficult points. It should also focus on connotation, distinctive features and high-quality construction.

The eight areas in question 3

In question 3, the official said that the first round had overall achieved its interim goals. The official gave the following eight areas.

Item Area, as the official described it
1 Party leadership over universities was comprehensively strengthened.
2 Construction of a high-level faculty made notable progress.
3 The capacity to train high-level talent for national needs kept rising.
4 The capacity to serve national science and technology self-reliance and self-strengthening improved further.
5 Philosophy and social sciences played their main role.
6 International exchange and cooperation rose to a higher level.
7 Internal governance structures kept improving.
8 Demonstration effects led to new development in regional higher education.

For item 4, the official named important progress in key fields including quantum science, catalytic chemistry and condensed-matter physics.

The official said the progress should be fully recognized. The official also said that the results were not yet commensurate with China's comprehensive national strength and international standing. Nor were they yet commensurate with the diverse demand for talent from economic and social development. In the second round, the official said, the strategic position of the new development stage should be grasped accurately, and the problems still present should be addressed.

How the first round was assessed

In question 8, the official said the three ministries issued the Measures for Assessing the Results of Double First-Class Construction (Trial) in March 2021. The official said these measures implement the Overall Plan for Deepening Reform of Education Evaluation in the New Era. The official described the assessment in three stages:

  1. Each construction university carried out a self-assessment and wrote a summary.
  2. The three ministries, using monitoring of the construction, carried out a quantitative analysis, which the official called "back-to-back" (背靠背).
  3. Experts carried out a qualitative evaluation.

The official said the quantitative and qualitative results were combined. They were used to present results from three perspectives: overall development level, growth and improvement, and sustainable development capacity.

The official said results were classified by range and grade. The assessment did not calculate total scores, and it did not publish rankings. The results were sent to the construction universities together with feedback, for continuous improvement during construction. The official said the assessment aimed to find problems and gaps.

Questions people ask

What did the official say about the problems that remained after the first round?

In question 1 of the press Q&A, the official named three problems: insufficient supply of high-level innovative talent, service to national strategic needs that was not precise enough, and resource allocation that needed urgent optimization. The Q&A is dated 14 February 2022.

How did the official say first-round results were reported?

In question 8, the official said results were classified by range and grade. The official said the assessment did not calculate total scores and did not publish rankings. Results were sent to the construction universities with feedback for continuous improvement.

Where is the second-round list printed?

Questions 1, 3 and 8 of the press Q&A do not print the list. The list is annex 1 of the notice numbered 教研函〔2022〕1号, which is dated 9 February 2022.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026.

This page is an unofficial summary, is not published by the Ministry of Education or any university, promises no admission outcome, and the official Chinese text and the current official list prevail if they differ.

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