Northwest A&F University（NWAFU）, located in Yangling, Shaanxi — the cradle of China’s agricultural civilization and site of the National Agricultural High-Tech Industrial Demonstration Zone — is a university directly under the Ministry of Education. It is a key university supported by China’s Project 985, an initiative to develop a number of world-class universities for the 21st century, and Project 211, a programme to strengthen roughly 100 major universities for the 21st century. As one of the first universities selected under the national Double First-Class Initiative, which seeks to bring a cohort of high-level universities and disciplines into the global top rank, it was re-selected in the second round of the Initiative in 2022, with two of its disciplines accredited as Double First-Class disciplines.
The university traces its origin to the National Northwest Junior College of Agriculture and Forestry founded in 1934, the first institution of higher agricultural and forestry education in Northwest China. Since its founding, it has shared weal and woe with the fate of the country and nation, shouldering the historic mission of developing Northwest China, advancing education and agriculture, and cultivating outstanding talents. In September 1999, to carry out the Western Development Strategy and advance the integrated reform of science and education systems, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council consolidated seven education and research institutions based in Yangling — the former Northwest Agricultural University, Northwest Forestry College, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Water Resources, Northwest Institute of Water Resources Science of the Ministry of Water Resources, Shaanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shaanxi Academy of Forestry, and Northwest Institute of Botany of Shaanxi Province and the Chinese Academy of Sciences — into Northwest A&F University under a collaborative governance framework jointly supported by the Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Province and research academies, entrusting it with the vital mission to underpin and spearhead the development of modern agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions. In 2019, the Ministry of Education together with six other ministries, provincial authorities and research institutions jointly issued the Opinions on Further Co-construction of Northwest A&F University, supporting the University to accelerate its development into a world-class agricultural university with Chinese characteristics, which ushered in new opportunities for its development.
The past ninety years since the university’s establishment have witnessed generations of its faculty and students staying committed to the university motto “Sincerity, Simplicity, Bravery and Perseverance” and practicing its educational philosophy: “People are the foundation of the nation; food is the paramount necessity of the people. Virtue shall be nurtured unceasingly, and foundations shall be consolidated firmly.” Inheriting the ambition of Hou Ji, the ancient god of agriculture, and practicing the modern mission of teaching people farming, NWAFU has fostered the NWAFU Spirit — taking root in Yangling, giving prime concern to the country, grounding on the loess land , devoting to the Three Rural Issues including agriculture, rural areas and farmers, resisting hardship and pursuing excellence — as well as its culture of “ Unity, Truth-seeking, Tenacity and Self-confidence”. The university has developed a distinctive education model featuring close integration of teaching, research and extension, making remarkable contributions to China’s agricultural modernization and the advancement of agricultural science and education.
NWAFU comprises a Graduate School and 27 schools (divisions). It has more than 2,700 full-time faculty members and over 40,000 full-time students. It hosts 14 postdoctoral research stations, 21 first-level disciplines authorized to confer doctoral degrees, 34 first-level disciplines authorized to confer master’s degrees, 6 categories of professional doctoral degrees, 19 categories of professional master’s degrees, and 81 undergraduate programmes. Fourteen disciplines have entered the global top 1% in Essential Science Indicators (ESI): Agricultural Sciences, Plant and Animal Science, Environmental Science and Ecology, Engineering, Chemistry, Biology & Biochemistry, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Molecular Biology & Genetics, Microbiology, Geosciences, Computer Science, Clinical Medicine, Social Sciences, and Materials Science. Among them, four disciplines — Agricultural Sciences, Plant and Animal Science, Environmental Science and Ecology, and Engineering — rank within the global top 0.1%, and Agricultural Sciences and Plant and Animal Science are in the global top 0.01%. At present, it has developed into an agricultural university with the most complete agricultural, forestry and water-related disciplines in China.
As early as its founding in 1934, the university began enrolling undergraduate students, and graduate recruitment started in 1941. Over the years, it has followed the guiding principle of “solid foundation, broad scope, hands-on training, innovation emphasis, high quality and internationalization”. It strives to cultivate academic elites, leading talents in innovation and entrepreneurship and management talents for social development dedicated to modern agriculture, who possess firm ideals and beliefs, a strong sense of social responsibility, passion for agriculture, rural areas and farmers, innovative minds, practical capabilities and global vision. The university attaches high priority to first-class undergraduate education and actively participates in the construction of “New Agricultural Science”. 34 majors have been approved as National First-class Undergraduate Major Development Sites, and the Training Base for Top-notch Students in Biological Sciences is included in the Ministry of Education’s Top-notch Student Training Programme 2.0 for Basic Disciplines. NWAFU boasts 1 National Base for Talent Cultivation in Life Science and Technology, 3 National Experimental Zones for Innovative Talent Training Modes, 1 National Modern Industry College, 12 National Distinctive Majors, and 8 majors under the Outstanding Agricultural and Forestry Talents Education and Training Programme. 6 majors have passed engineering education accreditation. The university has 5 National Distinguished Teaching Masters, and has developed 58 national first-class undergraduate courses, with 67 textbooks selected as national planned textbooks in recent years. Upholding the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, the university promotes all-round student development and attaches importance to cultivating students’ innovative capacity. It encourages and supports students to take part in high-level disciplinary competitions as well as innovation and entrepreneurship training programmes and practical activities. Students have repeatedly won national first-class awards at premier events including China International College Students’ Innovation Competition and the “Challenge Cup” Competition, placing NWAFU among the leading agricultural and forestry universities nationwide. Since its founding, more than 320,000 professional talents have stepped out of campus to work home and abroad, among whom 28 alumni have been elected academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, making outstanding contributions to Northwest area and the whole country in agricultural modernization and rural economic and social development.
Adhering to the principle of “making groundbreaking innovations and transforming them into productive forces”, aiming for the frontiers of science and technology in accordance with national and regional strategic demands, NWAFU has conducted applied basic research and applied technology research in agricultural production. It has formed distinct features and advantages in crop genetics and breeding, disease and insect pest control, soil and water conservation and ecological restoration, efficient agricultural water use in arid areas, breeding and cultivation of economic fruit trees, livestock and poultry breeding and healthy breeding, agricultural biotechnology, protected agriculture engineering, grape and wine research, and other fields. Since its founding, the university has developed landmark scientific achievements including Bima 1, the wheat variety with the world’s largest cumulative extension area, Xiaoyan 6, a wheat wide-hybrid variety that long drove wheat variety renewal in China, and Qinguan, China’s independently-bred apple variety with the nation’s widest extension coverage. The direct economic benefits generated by the popularization and commercialization of these achievements have exceeded 300 billion yuan. Since the merger of seven institutes in 1999, firmly bearing in mind the national mission of serving sustainable development in the arid areas, NWAFU has stood at the forefront of advancing the Western Development Strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Rural Revitalization Strategy. It has won 45 State Science and Technology Awards, led more than 100 first-prize provincial and ministerial research achievements, and obtained over 3,600 national authorized invention patents. Its series of key technologies for high-quality, efficient and green apple production on the Loess Plateau have underpinned and led the Loess Plateau to become the world-recognized and China’s largest production base for high-quality apples. The soil erosion control technology system has solved the global conundrum of ecological environment construction on the Loess Plateau, helped push Shaanxi’s green frontier 400 kilometers northward, and played a vital role in the national Grain for Green Programme.
NWAFU has formed its fine tradition of being close to “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” and serving society in its long-term university-running practice. Since its merger, to meet the development need of national and regional leading industries, NWAFU has given full play to its social service function and striven for the demonstration, promotion, and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. It pioneered a new university-based agricultural technology extension model in China. The university has established scientific and technological partnerships with more than 500 local governments and leading enterprises, set up 38 agricultural technology test and demonstration stations and 52 demonstration bases in core zones of regional pillar industries, and built an efficient channel for translating university agricultural research findings to villages and households. NWAFU has fully engaged in rural revitalization and the modernization of agricultural science and technology, developing and applying the “Three Groups and One Team” (secretary groups, graduate student groups, expert groups, and outstanding talent pioneer service team) assistance model. Its relevant cases have been recognized as model projects by the National Administration for Rural Revitalization and the Ministry of Education for seven consecutive years, and the university has received the top rating of “Excellent” in the assessment of paired assistance by central institutions for eight consecutive years. As one of the first universities nationwide to establish a New Rural Development Institute, it has also set up Rural Revitalization Strategy Research Institute, Shaanxi Rural Revitalization Industry Research Institute, and College of Farmers Education, delivering vital intellectual support for agricultural and rural modernization in the new era.
Adhering to the principle of open‑door university operation, NWAFU has actively expanded international cooperation and exchanges in science, technology and education by strengthening substantive cooperation with world-class universities and academic institutions, thus forming a new pattern of all-round, multi-level and multi-channel international engagement. It has built partnerships with 102 renowned universities and research institutions across 35 countries and regions worldwide. It has jointly established NWAFU Massey College, a Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution, with Massey University in New Zealand. It is eligible to host international students under the Chinese Government Scholarship Programme and currently has 605 international students of various categories. Through actively participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, it has gradually become a highland for China to carry out international agricultural exchanges and cooperation and serve the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt. The Silk Road Agricultural Education, Science and Technology Innovation Alliance, initiated by NWAFU, enjoys extensive influence. The university has led the establishment of 8 agricultural science and technology demonstration parks and 4 overseas talent training bases in countries along the Silk Road. NWAFU and Yangling Demonstration Zone have jointly built the SCO Agricultural Technology Exchange, Training and Demonstration Base. The university spearheaded the founding of the Institute of Modern Agricultural Development and set up the International Joint Laboratory for Modern Agriculture under the SCO Agricultural Base. It is a member of the SCO University and takes the lead in modern agriculture. NWAFU runs a Confucius Classroom at Baranovichi State University in Belarus and has jointly established an overseas branch campus with Tashkent State Agrarian University of Uzbekistan.
Marching forward on the new journey and striving for achievements in the new era, NWAFU will follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, and thoroughly study and apply General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important statements on education, science and technology, talent development and the Three Rural Issues, in particular the spirit of his important reply letter to Party secretaries, university presidents and expert representatives of agricultural universities nationwide. Upholding its founding mission to cultivate talent for the Party and the State, the university will advance organized New Agricultural Science development, organized scientific and technological innovation, organized research and extension, and organized international cooperation. It will coordinate the integrated reform of institutions and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent development, fulfill the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, and stick to its dual development orientation of “making groundbreaking innovations and transforming them into productive forces”. Actively implementing three strategies — strengthening the university through talent development, internationalization and informatization, NWAFU will faithfully deliver its four disciplinary missions of safeguarding national food security, ecological civilization, human health and rural revitalization. It strives to set benchmarks in cultivating outstanding agricultural and forestry professionals, steering the future agriculture of arid and semi-arid regions, supporting the Rural Revitalization Strategy, advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, and deepening integrated university-local development. NWAFU will accelerate its development into a world-class agricultural university with Chinese characteristics and keep striving for the cause of building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation.
(Data updated as of October 2026)
