Zaozhuang University is a provincial public full-time undergraduate university in Shandong Province. Its history dates back to the Zaozhuang Teacher Training School established in 1971. In 1984, with the approval of the People’s Government of Shandong Province, it became Zaozhuang Normal College. In 2004, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, it was upgraded to a full undergraduate university and renamed Zaozhuang University. In 2024, it was authorized to confer master’s degrees. Professors Wang Zikun and Yao Jianquan, both academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, serve as honorary presidents.

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the university upholds the socialist orientation of education and fully implements the Party’s educational policies. It embraces the spirit of its motto—“Universal Love, Esteem for the Worthy, Broad Learning, and Earnest Practice”—and adheres to its educational positioning as a locally rooted, application-oriented, open, and engineering-focused university.The university remains committed to fostering virtue through education, advancing reform and innovation, consolidating undergraduate education as its foundation, developing postgraduate and international student education, and appropriately expanding continuing education. It also continues to strengthen its capacity to serve regional economic and social development, thereby enhancing its overall educational quality and social influence.

The university has two campuses—Shizhong and Xuecheng—with a combined area of 2,912 mu, or approximately 194 hectares, and a total floor area of nearly 800,000 square meters. It has fixed assets valued at RMB 1.45 billion and 22 experimental teaching centers. Four of these centers—the Computer Experimental Teaching Center, Biology Experimental Center, Food and Pharmaceutical Experimental Teaching Center, and Building Industrialization Virtual Simulation Teaching Center—have been designated as Shandong Provincial Demonstration Centers for University Experimental Teaching. The university’s teaching and research instruments and equipment are valued at more than RMB 500 million, and its library holds more than 5.06 million volumes.

The university recruits students from 26 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, as well as from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. It has more than 32,000 full-time students and nearly 1,800 faculty and staff members. Among its teaching faculty, 96% hold doctoral or master’s degrees; 608 professional and technical personnel hold senior professional titles; and 387 faculty members serve as full-time or part-time supervisors of doctoral and master’s students.

The university is home to more than 40 high-level talents, including dual-appointed academicians, Changjiang Scholars, recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, experts receiving special government allowances from the State Council, recipients of the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent Talents Program, Taishan Young Scholars, Taishan Industry Leading Talents, provincial-level distinguished teachers, and young and middle-aged experts recognized for their outstanding contributions to Shandong Province. It has three Shandong Provincial Outstanding Teaching Teams, three Huang Danian-style Faculty Teams at Shandong universities, 25 Young Innovation Teams in Shandong higher education institutions,fourShandong Young Talent Teams in Philosophy and Social Sciences, andfourteams supported by the Shandong Higher Education Young Innovative Talent Recruitment and Development Program.

The university comprises 22 schools and academic departments. It is authorized to offer professional master’s degree programs in two fields: Materials and Chemical Engineering, and Biology and Medicine. It offers 70 undergraduate programs across 10 broad disciplinary fields: literature, science, engineering, management, education, history, economics, law, the arts, and agriculture.

The university hasonenational pilot undergraduate program for comprehensive reform andfourprovincial key disciplines. Optical Engineering, Education, and Chinese Language and Literature were rated as three-star disciplines in China and leading disciplines at the regional level in the 2024 CUAA discipline rankings. It hasfourShandong provincial high-level application-oriented program clusters approved for development,eightprovincial distinctive programs, and 11 provincial first-class undergraduate programs.Eightprograms have passed Level II accreditation for teacher education, whilefourhave received program accreditation from ASIIN, a German accreditation agency. It also has 20 Shandong provincial first-class undergraduate courses, 23 provincial quality courses, andsixprovincial model courses integrating ideological and political education across the curriculum.

Upholding the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, the university has launched the innovative “777 Interconnected Education Initiative” and developed a new four-dimensional framework for comprehensive student development. It has repeatedly received such honors as “Advanced Institution for Ideological and Political Education in Shandong Province” and “Outstanding University for Moral Education in Shandong Province.”

In response to the calls of the CPC Central Committee and the arrangements of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and the Shandong Provincial People’s Government, the university has dispatched 14 cohorts comprising 2,870 faculty members and students to Kashgar, Xinjiang, for teaching practicums and educational support since 2018. This constitutes the largest university contingent from Shandong Province supporting education in Xinjiang.

Placing student development at the heart of its mission, the university continues to deepen educational and teaching reforms and enhance the quality of talent cultivation. It has receivedaSecond Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, 43 Shandong Provincial Teaching Achievement Awards, and 121 awards in teaching competitions at the provincial level or above. It also hasfourprovincial experimental teaching demonstration centers,threeprovincial demonstration bases for internships and practical training,twoprovincial model grassroots teaching units,fourprovincial colleges with distinctive disciplinary strengths, andtwoprovincial programs for cultivating top innovative talent.

Over the past five years, students have won more than 5,400 awards at the provincial level or above in national and international innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, discipline-specific contests, and science and technology innovation competitions. The proportion of graduates pursuing further studies has consistently remained above 30%, while the graduate employment rate has remained above 90%. The quality of the university’s graduates has earned widespread recognition from employers and the wider community.

With the goal of becoming a leading application-oriented university in China, the university has achieved notable results in industry–education integration and collaborative talent development. It has been designated a pilot institution for comprehensive reform in industry–education integration by the Ministry of Education’s Center for School Planning, Construction and Development, one of the first pilot institutions for industry–education program partnerships under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and one of the first institutions supported by Shandong Province in developing application-oriented undergraduate universities.

The university has securedsevenprojects under the Ministry of Education’s Industry–Education Integration Promotion Program. Building on these projects, it has continued to pursue quality-focused and innovation-driven development and established 17 modern industry colleges, includingsixprovincial-level modern industry colleges and one “Specialized, Sophisticated, Distinctive and Innovative” Industry College recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The university has hosted major events such as the National Conference on Experience Sharing in the Development of Industry–Education Integration Platforms and the Shandong Forum on the Development of Application-Oriented Universities and Modern Industry Colleges. Its work in industry–education integration and collaborative talent development ranks among the best of its peer institutions. The university has received honors including Shandong’s Most Distinctive Undergraduate Institution, Shandong’s Most Influential Undergraduate Institution, the China Industry–University–Research Collaboration Promotion Award, and Outstanding Institution for Industry–Education Integration.

The university actively advances its strategy of strengthening the institution through science and technology. It houses the National Key Laboratory for Pomegranate Research under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the only national-level sector-specific key laboratory in China dedicated exclusively to pomegranate research.

The university hosts more than 130 research platforms at the national, provincial, and municipal levels. These include the Shandong Engineering Research Center for Micro- and Nanomanufacturing and Terahertz Technology; the Shandong Engineering Research Center for the Efficient and Clean Utilization of Carbon Resources; the Shandong Engineering Technology Research Center for Low-Dimensional Quantum Sensing Devices; the Shandong Engineering Technology Research Institute for Advanced Pomegranate Processing; the Shandong Lunan Research Institute of Coal Chemical Engineering; the Academician Workstation for Micro- and Nanotechnology; the Shandong Research Center for Accident Prevention Technologies in Key Industries (Hazardous Chemicals); and the Global Center for Esperanto Information and Culture.

The university jointly trains doctoral students with the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Jiaotong University, Tianjin University, Southwest University, Qufu Normal University, and other institutions. It also jointly trains master’s students with China University of Mining and Technology, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Shandong Agricultural University, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liaocheng University, and other institutions.

Over the past five years, the university has undertaken more than 220 high-level research projects at the national, provincial, and ministerial levels, including projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Social Science Fund of China. It has also completed more than 3,000 research projects commissioned by enterprises and public institutions, with total research funding reaching RMB 1.43 billion.

During the same period, the university has published more than 2,000 high-quality academic papers and over 120 scholarly monographs and has been granted more than 180 national invention patents. It has been designated a provincial-level service institution for technology transfer and commercialization and has facilitated the commercialization of more than 470 research outcomes. It has received more than 50 research awards at the provincial, ministerial, or higher levels, including the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award and the Shandong Provincial Awards for Achievements in Social Sciences.

The university actively contributes to Shandong Province’s major initiative to replace old growth drivers with new ones and advances the major national strategy for ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. In collaboration with the Zaozhuang municipal government and local enterprises, it has established more than 130 industry–university–research partnership platforms. It has also secured approval foronedistinctive project supporting the Yellow River Basin strategy,twointerprovincial cooperation initiatives, and 11 exemplary cases.

A research team from the university discovered a new species of sisorid catfish,Glaridoglanis verruciloba, in the Himalayas. The findings were subsequently reported by Xinhua News Agency,People’s Daily, and other national media outlets, providing an important scientific basis for biodiversity conservation.

The university actively promotes cultural inheritance and innovation. Drawing on the region’s cultural heritage and China’s fine traditional culture, it conducts in-depth research into distinctive local traditions, includingLuban-Moziculture, pomegranate culture, Grand Canal culture, craftsmanship culture, and revolutionary culture.

It has established the Zaozhuang University Research Base of the Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies and hosted major national events such as the Forum on China’s Culture of Excellence in Craftsmanship in the New Era and the High-Level Forum on Mohist Studies. Through these efforts, it has developed distinctive cultural brands represented by its “Craftsmanship Culture” initiative.

Building on its teaching and research in Esperanto, the university jointly established the Esperanto Museum with the China Esperanto League. The museum has the largest exhibition space and the broadest range of functions of any Esperanto museum worldwide. It serves as a National Base for Social Science Popularization and Education, a Social Practice Base for Young People from China and Other Countries, and an Outstanding Social Science Popularization and Education Base of Shandong Province. Through Esperanto, the university has translated, compiled, and publishedthe Chinese Culture Research and Dissemination Series, helping make China’s voice heard internationally and share Chinese culture with the world. The university has been recognized as a Model Institution for the Inheritance of Fine Traditional Chinese Culture and an Outstanding Institution for Esperanto Teaching and Research, and has received the Excellence Award for Campus Culture Promotion.

The university continues to broaden its international engagement and deepen international exchange and cooperation. It has established interinstitutional partnerships with 89 universities and educational institutions in 20 countries and regions across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. These partnerships encompass mutual recognition of academic credits, student exchanges, degree education for international students, undergraduate-level Chinese–foreign cooperative education, and “internship plus practical training” programs for international students.

In partnership with École Centrale d’Électronique (ECE) in France, the university has jointly established the Sino-French Intelligent Engineering College of Zaozhuang University. It offers four undergraduate programs through Chinese–foreign cooperation, operates four overseas teaching-practice bases and four overseas talent workstations, and has established the Mozi Culture Center at the Sihanoukville Institute of Business and Technology in Cambodia.

The university has joined the Sino-German Alliance for Lithium Battery Technology and Industry and established the Sino-German Joint Laboratory for Crystal Materials. Building on these international partnerships and collaborative platforms, it has welcomed a cumulative total of more than 600 degree-seeking and language students from 25 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Its internationalization has kept improving.

In successive years, the university has received honors such as Provincial Civilized Institution of Shandong Province, Advanced Higher Education Institution for Party Building and Ideological and Political Work in Shandong Province, Outstanding University Project Office for the National College Student Volunteer Service Program for Western China, and National Advanced Institution for Social Practice.

Data as of July 2026.