985 Project

Project 985 (Chinese: 985工程; pinyin: 985 gōngchéng) is a project that was first announced by CPC General secretary and Chinese President Jiang Zemin at the 100th anniversary of Peking University on May 4, 1998 to promote the development and reputation of the Chinese higher education system by founding world-class universities in the 21st century and eponymous after the date of the announcement, May 1998, or 98/5, according to the Chinese date format. The project involves both national and local governments allocating large amounts of funding to certain universities in order to build new research centers, improve facilities, hold international conferences, attract world-renowned faculty and visiting scholars, and help Chinese faculty attend conferences abroad.

In 2009, 9 universities made up the C9 League, which is referred to as the Chinese equivalent of the US Ivy League. By the end of the second phase of the project, 39 universities were sponsored. It was announced in 2011 that the project has closed its doors, and no more new schools will be able to join in.

There are 39 universities sponsored by Project 985. The project also assigned funding to each university.

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