Quzhou University (QZU), an application-oriented public university while comprehensive in scope, maintains a strong emphasis on engineering disciplines. Founded in 1985, it was formerly known as the West Branch of the Zhejiang College of Technology; however in March 2010, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, it was renamed Quzhou University. In 2014, QZU was authorized as a bachelor’s degree awarding institute. In 2015, QZU was approved to be a model university for application-oriented universities of Zhejiang Province. In February 2018, QZU passed the undergraduate teaching qualification assessment of the Ministry of Education.

QZU is located in the city of Quzhou in Zhejiang province, a national historic and cultural city known as the Home of Southern Confucianism. The campus covers an area of 227,000 square meters. The total assets of QZU’s teaching and scientific research instruments and equipment are 282 million yuan, and the university library holds a collection of more than 1,080,000 volumes of paper books. Based on its foundation and its mandate to support the development of the local society and economy, QZU aims to develop its application-oriented strengths as a university and maintain its commitment to engineering studies to fulfill its commitment to serving the city of Quzhou and Zhejiang Province.

QZU consists of seven colleges: the College of Chemical and Material Engineering, the College of Mechanical Engineering, the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, the College of Electrical and Information Engineering, the College of Business, the College of Teacher Education, and the College of Foreign Languages. QZU offers 30 undergraduate programs, covering seven disciplines including engineering, literature, science, education, art, management, and economics. At present, QZU has about 9,300 full-time students on campus. In addition, QZU has one national first-class undergraduate program, three national first-class undergraduate courses, 11 provincial first-class undergraduate programs, six provincial featured undergraduate programs, and 116 provincial first-class undergraduate courses.

QZU strongly believes that its strength lies with staff, and has made great progress in developing and acquiring top-level teaching and administrative talents. It currently has a faculty and staff of 771 individuals, of which 613 are full-time educators. Among them, there are 79 professors, 182 associate professors, and 252 teachers holding a Ph.D. degree. QZU has brought in one academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, one recipient of the National Talent Introduction Project, one recipient of the MOE Supported by Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, one expert enjoying a special subsidy from the State Council, two recipients of the provincial Talent Introduction Project, 22 recipients of the second and third tier 151 Talents Project of Zhejiang Province, and a total of 241 talents of or above the municipal level. QZU has established four municipal key innovative teams at the provincial level, three municipal key innovation teams, and 350 teaching faculty members who possess interdisciplinary qualifications and skills.

QZU has vigorously promoted the cultivation of its team’s talents in multiple ways. It is improving the quality of its morality education programs. The number of graduates whose scores are above the cut-off mark for the Postgraduate Entrance Examination has amounted to over 20 percent and the acceptance rate has been more than 17 percent for four consecutive years. In recent years, QZU students have been presented with more than 4,100 awards at or above third prize in both national and provincial academic competitions, among which over 570 awards are national third prizes or above. From 2018 to 2022, QZU ranked 17th among all the newly built universities and colleges in the country in various discipline contests and was listed as a Model College of Entrepreneurship for Universities and Colleges, provincial Model Makerspace, provincial Demonstration Base for Entrepreneurship and Incubation, and incubated 81 projects of entrepreneurship. In terms of graduates, they have enjoyed employment rates above 95 percent, and have been highly prized by their employers for their expertise, pioneering spirit, and ability to adapt to new positions.  

QZU has experienced ever-improving quality in the field of scientific research due to its sustained focus in this area. The university has on-site one National Innovation Alliance for Forestry and Grassland, one provincial Key Laboratory, two provincial Engineering Research Centers, four provincial Major Service Platforms of Technological Innovation, and three provincial Industrial Innovation Service Complex. In recent years, QZU has received honors and awards, including the Provincial Award for Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements among Colleges and Universities, the Provincial Association of Social Sciences Award for Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements, and the Municipal Award for Scientific and Technological Progress. The external scientific research funds per teacher have been more than 70,000 yuan for three consecutive years. 

QZU vigorously promotes its social services and keeps optimizing its capabilities to serve the needs of the local community. In recent years, 113 Doctoral Innovation Stations have been jointly established by QZU and the Talent Office of the Municipal Committee, and other enterprises. QZU established an alliance of local application-oriented universities in the heart of the greater region that encompasses four provinces with Wuyi University, Shangrao Normal University, and Huangshan University to promote common development.

QZU actively promotes international education and encourages exchange and cooperation with international and cross-strait partners. At present, QZU has established collaborative partnerships with colleges and universities throughout the world including the United States, Germany, Italy, ROK, Sweden, the UK, Malaysia, and Japan. QZU has enrolled its first class of international students from South Africa and has steadily pushed forward the internationalization of education. In July 2022, QZU and Mugaodi Outdoor Products Co., Ltd. jointly signed the Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement of QZU & Mugaodi Silk Road Business School. In June 2023, QZU & Mugaodi Silk Road Business School was successfully listed as a Silk Road School in the second batch of the Belt and Road initiative Silk Road Schools in Zhejiang Province. Through school-enterprise cooperation and integration of production and education, the two sides built a program based on the “1+4+1+N” format (language program + 4 skill training programs + degree program + cultural exchange platform + social service projects). By 2023, QZU has signed MoUs with the Industry 4.0 and Artificial Intelligence Research Center of Engineering College of Newcastle University, Kobe College, UTAR, and carried out cooperation projects in student and faculty exchanges, research collaboration, organization of joint conferences, and establishment of joint college. QZU-NCL Joint Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analysis, an international scientific research cooperation platform, was successfully established by QZU and Newcastle University. QZU holds international academic conferences with partner universities to encourage international exchanges and cooperation in academic research. The platform for international cooperation between QZU and enterprises has been continuously expanded. QZU is dedicated to strengthening cultural communication channels. Based on the culture of Weiqi and Southern Confucianism, QZU vigorously develops international Chinese language education, promotes excellent traditional Chinese culture, and enhances the influence of QZU at home and abroad. In 2023, QZU signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Zhejiang Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and thus established Silk Road Weiqi Schools with overseas Chinese schools in Italy, Spain, and the Czech Republic.

In the future, QZU will strive to build itself into a high-level application-oriented university with distinctive features and to play a leading role in the construction of application-oriented universities in the heart of the greater region that encompasses four provinces to better serve Quzhou and influence the surrounding areas.