Who administers universities in China: the Ministry of Education, other central bodies and the provinces
Sources checked · Unofficial summary
The "administered by" (主管部门) column of China's national list of higher education institutions records the central ministry or provincial government responsible for each school. Articles 13 and 14 of the Higher Education Law name the State Council, provincial governments and the education administrative department of the State Council as the bodies that lead, coordinate or direct higher education work in the country.
A separate section page on choosing and checking a university is at this directory's section page. The official lists are in Chinese; the English here is this site's translation of the Chinese text.
Confirm every school against the current official list before relying on it, because lists change.
What "administered by" means in law
Article 13 of the Higher Education Law of the People's Republic of China (adopted 29 August 1998, amended 27 December 2015 and 29 December 2018; Ministry of Education) states that the State Council provides unified leadership and management of national higher education. Provincial, autonomous region and municipal people's governments coordinate higher education within their own administrative areas, and manage institutions that mainly train local talent and institutions the State Council has authorized them to manage.
Article 14 of the same law states that the education administrative department of the State Council directs national higher education work, and manages institutions determined by the State Council as mainly training talent for the country. Other departments of the State Council, within the duties prescribed by the State Council, are responsible for the relevant higher education work.
The "administering department" (主管部门) shown in the national list's column is the body described by these two articles.
Who appears in the "administered by" column
The national list of higher education institutions (Ministry of Education, position as of 17 June 2026) has an attachment listing regular higher education institutions. Its columns are 序号 (number), 学校名称 (school name), 学校标识码 (school code), 主管部门 (administering department), 所在地 (location), 办学层次 (level) and 备注 (remarks). Counting the rows of that list, the central bodies that appear in the 主管部门 column are the following.
| Administering body (主管部门) | Rows counted |
|---|---|
| 教育部 (Ministry of Education) | 76 |
| 工业和信息化部 (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) | 7 |
| 国家民委 (National Ethnic Affairs Commission) | 6 |
| 公安部 (Ministry of Public Security) | 5 |
| 交通运输部（中国民用航空局） (Ministry of Transport, Civil Aviation Administration of China) | 4 |
| 中国科学院 (Chinese Academy of Sciences) | 2 |
| 应急管理部 (Ministry of Emergency Management) | 2 |
| 中央统战部 (United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee) | 2 |
| 中央办公厅 (General Office of the CPC Central Committee) | 1 |
| 国家卫生健康委员会 (National Health Commission) | 1 |
| 国家消防救援局 (National Fire and Rescue Administration) | 1 |
| 外交部 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) | 1 |
| 国家体育总局 (General Administration of Sport) | 1 |
| 中华妇女联合会 (All-China Women's Federation) | 1 |
| 共青团中央 (Communist Youth League Central Committee) | 1 |
| 中华全国总工会 (All-China Federation of Trade Unions) | 1 |
| 中国社会科学院 (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) | 1 |
| 民政部 (Ministry of Civil Affairs) | 1 |
| 司法部 (Ministry of Justice) | 1 |
| 交通运输部 (Ministry of Transport) | 1 |
| 海关总署 (General Administration of Customs) | 1 |
| 空军装备部 (Equipment Department of the Air Force) | 1 |
Counting the rows of the same list, all other rows name a province-level government, education department or commission, or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps: 2834 rows. The page of the national list states that, as of 17 June 2026, there are 3196 higher education institutions in total, of which 2952 are regular institutions (1412 undergraduate schools and 1540 vocational or junior-college schools) and 244 are adult institutions; the list does not include institutions in Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan.
The Double First-Class annex by administering body
The second-round "Double First-Class" list is annex 1 to 教研函〔2022〕1号, issued on 9 February 2022 by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and National Development and Reform Commission; the annex orders its entries by school code. Counting the entries of that annex, and reading each entry's 主管部门 from the national list of 17 June 2026, the numbers by administering body are the following.
| Administering body (主管部门) | Annex entries counted |
|---|---|
| 教育部 (Ministry of Education) | 74 |
| 工业和信息化部 (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) | 7 |
| 江苏省 (Jiangsu Province) | 7 |
| 上海市 (Shanghai Municipality) | 5 |
| 广东省 (Guangdong Province) | 5 |
| 四川省 (Sichuan Province) | 4 |
| 北京市 (Beijing Municipality) | 3 |
| 天津市 (Tianjin Municipality) | 3 |
| 山西省 (Shanxi Province) | 2 |
| 浙江省 (Zhejiang Province) | 2 |
| 中国科学院 (Chinese Academy of Sciences) | 2 |
| 河南省 (Henan Province) | 2 |
| 湖南省 (Hunan Province) | 2 |
| 国家卫生健康委员会 (National Health Commission) | 1 |
| 外交部 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) | 1 |
| 公安部 (Ministry of Public Security) | 1 |
| 国家体育总局 (General Administration of Sport) | 1 |
| 国家民委 (National Ethnic Affairs Commission) | 1 |
| 河北省 (Hebei Province) | 1 |
| 内蒙古自治区 (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) | 1 |
| 辽宁省 (Liaoning Province) | 1 |
| 交通运输部 (Ministry of Transport) | 1 |
| 吉林省 (Jilin Province) | 1 |
| 黑龙江省 (Heilongjiang Province) | 1 |
| 安徽省 (Anhui Province) | 1 |
| 福建省 (Fujian Province) | 1 |
| 江西省 (Jiangxi Province) | 1 |
| 中央统战部 (United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee) | 1 |
| 海南省 (Hainan Province) | 1 |
| 广西壮族自治区 (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region) | 1 |
| 贵州省 (Guizhou Province) | 1 |
| 云南省 (Yunnan Province) | 1 |
| 西藏自治区 (Tibet Autonomous Region) | 1 |
| 陕西省 (Shaanxi Province) | 1 |
| 青海省 (Qinghai Province) | 1 |
| 宁夏回族自治区 (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region) | 1 |
| 新疆维吾尔自治区 (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) | 1 |
| 新疆生产建设兵团 (Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) | 1 |
| 上海市 中国科学院 (Shanghai; Chinese Academy of Sciences) | 1 |
These figures are counts made by this site from the annex entries and are not printed by the publisher.
Questions people ask
What does the "administered by" column of the national list mean?
The column records the body responsible for each school. Article 13 of the Higher Education Law states that the State Council leads and manages national higher education and that provincial governments coordinate and manage local institutions, and Article 14 states that the education administrative department of the State Council directs national higher education work while other State Council departments handle their relevant higher education work.
Which central bodies appear in the "administered by" column?
Counting the rows of the national list of regular higher education institutions as of 17 June 2026, the central bodies are the Ministry of Education (76 rows) and the other central departments listed in the table above; all other rows name a province-level government, education department or commission, or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (2834 rows).
How many Double First-Class entries are administered by the Ministry of Education?
Counting the entries of the second-round "Double First-Class" annex of 9 February 2022 and reading each entry's 主管部门 from the national list, 74 entries are administered by the Ministry of Education; the remaining entries are divided among other central bodies and provinces as listed in the table above.
Sources
- Higher Education Law of the People's Republic of China — Ministry of Education of the PRC
- National list of higher education institutions (as of 17 June 2026) — Ministry of Education of the PRC
- National list of higher education institutions — attachment 1, regular institutions (Excel) — Ministry of Education of the PRC
- List of second-round "Double First-Class" construction universities and disciplines (教研函〔2022〕1号) — Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and National Development and Reform Commission
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.