211 Project

Project 211 (Chinese: 211工程; pinyin: 211 gōngchéng) is a project of National Key Universities and colleges initiated in 1995 by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, with the intent of raising the research standards of high-level universities and cultivating strategies for socio-economic development. During the first phase of the project, from 1996 to 2000, approximately US$2.2 billion was distributed.

China today has 116 institutions of higher education (about 6 percent) designated as 211 Project institutions for having met certain scientific, technical, and human resources standards and offer advanced degree programs). Project 211 schools take on the responsibility of training four-fifths of doctoral students, two-thirds of graduate students, half of students from abroad and one-third of undergraduates. They offer 85% of the state's key subjects, hold 96 percent of the state's key laboratories, and consume 70% of scientific research funding.

The name for the project comes from an abbreviation of the 21st century and 100 (approximate number of participating universities).

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