One of China's top academic institutions, Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province will celebrate, on Friday, the 120th anniversary of its establishment and the 60th anniversary of its relocation.

Since its foundation in 1896 in Shanghai as Nanyang College, one of the earliest universities in modern China, Xi'an Jiaotong University has cultivated innovative talents using global education concepts and cooperating with colleges and universities around the world.

Since 1896, it has made major contributions to modern education in China by hiring foreign teachers, translating and publishing foreign textbooks and sending students abroad.

From 1896 to 1921, the university has hired 29 foreign teachers in areas of law, diplomacy, motoring and other disciplines.

In 1898, the university founded the Nanyang College Translation and Publishing School, the first of its kind in modern China.

That same year, the university sent its first group of students to foreign countries, and by the end of 1905, it had sent 47 students to Japan, the United States, Britain and Belgium, among whom seven received their doctorate degree and 10 received their master's.

The college's overseas students in science and technology were the backbones of the Chinese American Student Association.

Graduates from the university were excused from examinations to study in Britain based on the agreement they made at that time.


Golden age
In 1930s, the university underwent rapid development in both scale and management.

It established five schools, in science, management, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical motors, and two departments of foreign and Chinese languages and a research institute.

The university also combined its science, engineering, management schools to train a number of its students, such as social activist Wang Daohan, entrepreneur Wang An and 21 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

During the 1930s, the university was honored as the Oriental Massachusetts Institute of Technology for its advanced teaching and management methods.

At this time, the gathered renowned professors and scholars such as Qiu Weiyu, professor and innovator of Chinese modern physical education who received his master's from MIT, and Zhang Tingjin, professor of electrical engineering and founder of China's radio industry who received his master's from Harvard University.

They brought back the world's latest educational philosophies and knowledge, laying a foundation for the university's development.

The university also aimed to provide students with a comfortable learning environment and a broad international perspective.

The textbooks used by students at that time were mostly foreign language textbooks introduced from international universities.

Qian Xuesen, a scientist and alumnus of Xi'an Jiaotong University, likened the course he studied at the university to the one he studied at MIT's Department of Aeronautical Engineering. In 1955, the State Council decided to move the university to Xi'an, upholding its longtime traditions while promoting the internationalization of education through the overseas cooperation, innovating teaching resources and building research platforms.