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How universities and disciplines were chosen for the second round of Double First-Class

Sources checked · Unofficial summary

The second-round Double First-Class list was identified by an expert committee. After that, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission studied it, reported it to the State Council, and published it with the Council's approval. The Ministry's official said the scope was set on the principle of "overall stability, optimised adjustment" (总体稳定、优化调整), which kept the overall scope of the first round and adjusted disciplines to national strategic needs.

This page follows the process in the order the official texts give it. The official texts are in Chinese. The English on this page is this site's translation of them, and the English names of institutions and disciplines are this directory's renderings, not official translations. For the universities themselves, start at this directory's section page.

Basis of the list

Paragraph 1 of the notice of 9 February 2022 (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and National Development and Reform Commission, 教研函〔2022〕1号) names three documents as its basis. They are the State Council's Overall Plan for Promoting the Building of World-Class Universities and First-Class Disciplines (统筹推进世界一流大学和一流学科建设总体方案), the three ministries' Several Opinions on Further Promoting the Building of World-Class Universities and First-Class Disciplines (关于深入推进世界一流大学和一流学科建设的若干意见), and the Implementation Measures for Promoting the Building of World-Class Universities and First-Class Disciplines (Trial) (统筹推进世界一流大学和一流学科建设实施办法（暂行）).

The same paragraph says that the expert committee identified the list. The three ministries then studied it and reported it to the State Council for approval. The notice publishes two annexes. Annex 1 is the second-round list of universities and construction disciplines. Annex 2 is the list of first-round construction disciplines that were given a public warning, including revocation. This page covers annex 1 only.

Paragraph 2 of the same notice says that Peking University (北京大学) and Tsinghua University (清华大学) determined their construction disciplines in the second round themselves and announced them separately. It also says that first-round disciplines given a public warning must rectify, and that they will be evaluated in 2023.

How universities and disciplines were identified

Question 5 of the Ministry's press Q&A (14 February 2022) says that the scope was set under the principles and conditions of the Overall Plan and the Implementation Measures (trial). It also says that the scope was based on first-round results, on opinions from several parties, and on expert consultation. The question sets out three parts of the principle.

  • First, there were no large-scale changes. The Q&A says the first-round layout had formed a basic system, and the overall scope was kept stable so that universities and disciplines could keep investing steadily.
  • Second, adjustments were led by need. The second round used the national strategic needs for the 14th Five-Year Plan period, as set by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, as the guide for adjusting disciplines. The expert consultation examined how well each proposed discipline fits, its level and its development quality. The Q&A says the adjustments paid particular attention to basic disciplines, science, engineering, agriculture and medicine, and philosophy and social sciences.
  • Third, universities could apply for adjustment. The Q&A says a university to which a construction discipline belongs may apply for an adjustment based on its own strengths and its goals. The application is reviewed by the expert committee, and the three ministries report it to the State Council for approval. After an adjustment, the original discipline is no longer on the list.

Procedure and conditions for newly added disciplines

Question 6 of the same Q&A says that the procedure for newly added disciplines is the same as the procedure used for the first round. The expert committee first set the conditions for entry. It then gave advisory recommendations, and the three ministries reported the list to the State Council after studying them. Question 6 says that a newly added discipline must meet all three of the following requirements at the same time.

Requirement (Chinese term) As stated in question 6
Urgent need (切合急需) The discipline direction must closely match the national strategic needs set by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council for the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
Excellent level (水平出色) The first-level disciplines in the field should show clearly better performance than comparable disciplines in connotation, distinctive development and contribution.
Overall compliance (整体达标) Beyond the basic threshold of Party leadership and the quality of talent training, the conditions have several dimensions. Question 6 says they are not linked to university rankings or paper indicators.

The table is this site's layout of the three items in question 6. The wording in each row is this site's translation.

How first-round results were evaluated

Question 8 of the press Q&A (14 February 2022) says that the three ministries issued the Measures for Evaluating the Results of Double First-Class Construction (Trial) (《"双一流"建设成效评价办法（试行）》) in March 2021. Under those measures, each university first carried out a self-evaluation. The three ministries then carried out a quantitative analysis of construction results, based on monitoring of the construction, and experts carried out a qualitative evaluation. Question 8 says that the combined results were shown from three perspectives: overall development level, growth and improvement, and capacity for sustainable development.

Question 8 says the evaluation was meant to find problems and gaps. The results are shown by interval and by grade. Question 8 says they are not given as a total score and are not published as a ranking. They are sent to the universities with comments, for continuous improvement during construction.

What the list contains

The second-round list is annex 1 to the notice of 9 February 2022. It is ordered by school code. Counting the entries of the list, there are 147 institutions. Two institutions have no disciplines printed, and the list marks those as self-determined. The entries for the other 145 institutions contain 433 discipline entries in all, with 97 different discipline names. These are counts made from the list. They are not a measure of quality.

Being on this list does not show whether a university enrols international students in a given programme. For each university, check the current official list and the university's own admission prospectus. Before you rely on any entry on this page, confirm it against the current official list.

Questions people ask

How were the second-round universities and disciplines identified?

Question 5 of the Ministry's press Q&A (14 February 2022) says the second round kept the overall scope of the first round and made adjustments led by the national strategic needs for the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Paragraph 1 of the notice (9 February 2022) says the expert committee identified the list, and the three ministries then reported it to the State Council for approval.

What conditions must a newly added discipline meet?

Question 6 of the press Q&A (14 February 2022) says a newly added discipline must meet three requirements at the same time. It must closely match the national strategic needs for the 14th Five-Year Plan period, its first-level discipline must show clearly better performance than comparable disciplines, and it must meet overall conditions that are not linked to university rankings or paper indicators.

How were first-round results evaluated?

Question 8 of the press Q&A (14 February 2022) says the evaluation combined each university's self-evaluation, a quantitative analysis by the three ministries and a qualitative evaluation by experts. The results are shown by interval and grade, from three perspectives, without a total score and without a ranking.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026.

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

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