Brief Introduction of Anqing Normal University
Anqing Normal University (AQNU) is located in Anqing, Anhui Province, near the Yangtze River. Anqing, also known as “Yi Cheng”(livable city), is a National Famous Historical and Cultural City. It is also known as the “State of Culture”, “Hometown of Opera” and “Holy Land of Zen Buddhism”, and is one of the main circulating places of Huangmei Opera. The university occupies a favorable geographical position, with such famous scenic mountains as Huangshan, Tianzhu Mountain, and has convenient transportation by land, river, and air.
The university enjoys a long history; it is the birthplace of higher education in Anhui in the modern times. The university has two campuses: Longshan campus and Linghu campus, which cover an area of 2,800 mu (about 1.87 square kilometers) altogether. There are 17 colleges, 66 undergraduate majors, over 2000 faculty and 25000 full time students. There are 1 discipline in the list of ESI global top 1%, 2 provincial applied peak cultivation disciplines, 5 provincial key disciplines, 12 academic master's degree points of first-level disciplines and 16 professional master's degree authorization categories. There are provincial key laboratories, provincial engineering laboratories, provincial humanities and social sciences key research bases, provincial collaborative innovation centers, provincial engineering technology research centers and other provincial research platforms, 26 in total.
The university has distinctive characteristics, relying on rich local cultural resources and unique location advantages, focusing on “a mountain (Dabie Mountain), a water (Yangtze River), a literature (Tongcheng School), a play (Huangmei Opera)” to carry out scientific research, talent training, cultural heritage and innovation. The university has formed a more distinctive feature of cultural training and academic discipline with outstanding achievements in the protection of Yangtze River dolphin, inheritance and innovation of Huangmei Opera, new materials of chemical industry, research and protection of biological diversity in Southwest Anhui Province, etc.
The Internationalization Strategy of the university
1. Building International Mechanisms
AQNU is one of the universes authorized by the Ministry of Education to provide scholarship for overseas Chinese language learners to study in China, and member of “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Universities Alliance”, “China-Africa Universities Alliance”. It is also been awarded “International Exchange and Cooperation Base of Anhui Province”, Chinese Language Education Base of Anhui Province” “international Joint Research Base of Anhui Province”, “International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Anhui Province”,etc.
2. Strengthening Cooperation between Anhui and Foreign Sistership States
In 2023, the leaders of AQNU visit Qashqadaryo viloyati (Uzbekistan) and Maryland (USA) with the delegation of Anhui Province. The signing ceremonies were witnessed by Governor Wang Qingxian and Vice Governor Sun Yong respectively.
3. Promoting Diversified International Exchange
The dual-degree program with University of Central Arkansas(USA) has been approved by the Ministry of Education. The research project of dolphin in Mekong River (Cambodia) has been supported by the United Nations Organization for the Protection of Endangered Species. The university has established a Chinese language center with Karshi State University(Uzbekistan), and built a base of internship and dissemination of traditional Chinese culture overseas in Puhua Trilingual School(Indonesia) and the PCF Community Foundation(Singapore). These provide more opportunities for faculty exchange.
4. Attracting Internationalized Talents
A number of employed foreign experts have been recognized by Chinese government as foreign high-level talents, and have been approved as foreign scholars' fund projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and foreign experts' projects of the Science and Technology Department of Anhui Province.
5. Expanding the group of International Students
The team of foreign students is growing, including undergraduates, postgraduates, language trainees and short-term exchange students.
