Projects 985 and 211

Project 985, conducted by the government of the People's Republic of China, is a constructive project for founding world-class universities in the 21st century. In 1998, President Zemin declared that "China must have a number of first-rate universities of international advanced level", and that's when Project 985 began.

In the initial phase, nine universities were given grants in excess of CNY1,000,000,000 each, over a period of 3 years. The second phase, launched in 2004, expanded the program until it has now reached almost 40 universities. Many participating universities receive tens of millions of yuan each year. A large part of the funding goes to academic exchange, allowing Chinese academics to participate in conferences abroad, and bringing foreign lecturers to China. Participating universities devote at least 15% of project funds to humanities projects and for institutions focused on science and technology, five percent.

WENR

Project 211 was initiated in 1995 by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. This project aims at cultivating high-level elite for national economic and social development strategies. Project 211 schools are responsible for training 4/5 of doctoral students, 2/3 of graduate students, 1/2 of students abroad and 1/3 of undergraduates.

The Chinese government has its own limitations to fund higher education opening up the private sector. Therfore, China welcomes and encourages private and foreign investment. During the first phase of the project from 1996 to 2000, approximately US$2.2 billion was distributed. Also, during the first phase of project 211, China allocated 2.755 billion yuan in special funds; in the second phase 6 billion yuan, and for the project's third phase (2007-2011) of construction, the Ministry set aside 10 billion yuan.

People's Daily Online

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