Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Shanghai Jiao Tong University is a public research university located in Shanghai, China. Established in 1896 by an imperial edict issued by the Guangxu Emperor, the university is renowned as one of the oldest and most prestigious and selective universities in China.

The university also annually produces the Academic Ranking of World Universities.



In 1896, the Nanyang Public School  was founded in Shanghai by an imperial edict issued by the Guangxu Emperor, under the Business and Telegraphs Office of the imperial government. Four schools were established: a normal school, a school of foreign studies, a middle school, and a high school. Sheng Xuanhuai, the mandarin responsible for proposing the idea to the Guangxu Emperor, became the first president and is regarded as the founder of the university, with the assistance of John Calvin Ferguson, a missionary educator.


In 1904, the Ministry of Commerce took over the school, and in 1905 changed its name to Imperial Polytechnic College of the Commerce Ministry.

In 1906, the college was placed under the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, and its name was changed to Shanghai Industrial College of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs.

When the Republic of China was founded, the college was placed under the Ministry of Communications and its name was once again changed, this time to Government Institute of Technology of the Communications Ministry.

In 1918, the republic government founded the School of Management. In 1920, the Government Institute of Technology of the Communications Ministry merged with two other colleges and changed its name to Nan Yang College of Chiao Tung.

In the 1930s, it was achieved renown for nurturing top engineers and scientists and was referred to as the "Eastern MIT". 

In 1938, the Ministry of Education took over the university and renamed it to National Chiao Tung University   (the separate institution of National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, is still known by this name). In 1943, the graduate school was founded.

When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, neither the Communist Party of China  nor the Kuomintang KMT trusted each other or were actively cooperating. After American-sponsored attempts to negotiate a coalition government failed in 1946, the Chinese Civil War resumed. The CPC defeated the Nationalists in 1949, forcing Chiang's government to retreat to Taiwan. During the evacuation, a part of faculty and alumni was taken to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek, founding National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan in 1958.

After the Chinese Civil War, the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. Chiao Tung lost its "National" appellation and became Chiao Tung University to reflect the fact that all universities under the new socialist state would be public.

In the 1950s, the pinyin romanization system was developed in Mainland China and Chiao Tung University changed its English name to Jiao Tong University.

From 1952, the Communist government adopted a policy of creating Soviet-style specialized schools, reshuffling nearly all universities and colleges to follow the Soviet-style higher education model. Under this policy, some faculties of the university were shifted to other universities, and some engineering faculties from outside were absorbed into Jiao Tong University to form a specialized engineering university.

Shanghai Second Medical University was merged into Shanghai Jiao Tong University on July 18, 2005, under the name Medical School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Since the reform and opening up policy in China, SJTU has grown substantially. It is composed of five campuses, including Xuhui, Minhang, Luwan, Qibao, and Fahua   taking up an area of about 3,225,833 square meters. 
In 2013, François Hollande inaugurated the SJTU-ParisTech Elite Institute of Technology an institution based on the French engineering education system. The four founding member universities are École Polytechnique, ENSTA ParisTech, Mines ParisTech and Télécom ParisTech