XJTU is a key university which is directly administered by the Chinese Education Ministry and is one of the oldest current institutions of higher education in China. The predecessor of XJTU was Nanyang College, which was founded in 1896 in Shanghai and renamed Jiaotong University in 1921. In 1956, the main body of Jiaotong University was moved to Xi'an according to the decision issued by the State Council, and was formally named Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1959, which was listed as a national key university. Xi'an Jiaotong University, as one of the first universities entering the seventh and eighth five-plan, as well as China's "211 Project" and “985 Project”, is selected to be developed into a global first-class university. In April 2004, approved by the State Council, the original Xi'an Medical University and original Shaanxi Institute of Finance and Economics were integrated into Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Currently Xi'an Jiaotong University is a comprehensive research university with scientific focus. It is composed of 10 branches of learning, namely: science, engineering, medicine, economics, management, literature, law, philosophy, education and art. The university, currently, consists of 26 full-time colleges and schools, 8 schools for undergraduates and 12 affiliated teaching hospitals. XJTU boasts a high-level staff of 5,561, including 2,861 full-time teachers, among which are 1,700 professors and associated professors. XJTU has 25 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, of which 14 are doubled-hired academicians. There are 6 national-level teachers, 47 Changjiang Scholars, 34 Outstanding Young Investigator Award laureates, 16 national experts with outstanding contribution to the country, 23 nation-level candidates of the National Talents Project, and the 21st Century National Talents Project, 19 leaders of the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team, 234 personnel of 21st Century Excellent Talents Training Plan proposed by the Ministry of Education, and 535 experts who have made outstanding contributions and enjoy special governmental allowances.

XJTU has a current enrollment of 30,682 full-time students, including over 14,697 masters and doctoral candidates. The university offers 84 undergraduate majors. It consists of 27 disciplines and 154 sub-disciplines authorized to confer PhD degrees and 45 disciplines and 242 sub-disciplines authorized to confer Master Degrees, and 22 centers to confer professional degrees. Among these, there are 8 nation-level key disciplines, 8 nation-level key sub-disciplines, 3 nation-level key sub-discipline pilot sites. In addition, 27 disciplines and 155 sub-disciplines are recognized as key disciplines at the provincial and ministerial level. It has 25 research facilities for post-doctoral students, 5 national key laboratories, 4 national engineering research centers and 59 key research centers and laboratories at the provincial and ministerial level.

During its more than 110 year history, Xi'an Jiaotong University has forged a set of principles to which it has remained true: devotion to learning makes the country stronger; creation grows out of hard work; honor rectitude and respect truth; learn teaching rigorously and the character of loving China and the university and bearing in mind where one's happiness comes from. The university also insists on the school-operational characteristic of having “a high staring point, a profound foundation, strict requirements and focusing on practice,” which continually carves out and innovates and diligently trains people. Among XJTU's outstanding alumni are Cai E, Huang Yanpei, Shao Lizi, Li Shutong, Ling Hongxun, Zou Taofen, Lu Dingyi, Hou Shaoqiu, Qian Xuesen, Wang An, Tian Binggeng, and Jiang Zemin. Over 200 XJTU alumni, including Mao Yisheng, Wu Youxun, Zhu Wuhua, Zhang Guangdou, Zhang Wei and Wu Wenjun, all of whom have been honored with membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. Since moving to Xi'an over 50 years ago, XJTU has educated a large group of talented individuals in many fields, its graduates having achieved distinction in all walks of life.

In recent years, the university has been following a path of active exploration and bold innovation as it seeks to implement the national reform plan for the comprehensive restructuring of higher education. An important element of this reform is the new “2+4+X” model for research universities; a model which emphasizes providing the students with a solid foundation of general knowledge, sound research skills and the ability to innovate. The goal is to transform the university from one which simply transmits knowledge to one which emphasizes active engagement in research. In 2006, XJTU took the lead among Chinese universities when it undertook to create a system of residential colleges modeled on the traditional Chinese academy of learning. This twin college system is aimed at giving our students the best possible chance for success. In 2007, XJTU established the “Qian Xuesen Experimental Class” for particularly gifted students and the “Zonglian Experimental Class”, whose purpose is to develop an appropriate classroom model for medical education. The university also set up its “engineering workshop” to stimulate students’ interests in science and technology and to encourage innovation and creativity, in keeping with the adage that “small inventions lead to big creations.” In 2010, the university first Experimental Class for Talents of Basic Subject was started. As one of only two universities in China with a “class for gifted young people,” XJTU has received praise from students and parents alike for its unique educational model, its favorable study environment, excellent teachers and substantial teaching resources, and its positive good teaching results. So far, the university has received 60 national teaching awards. In addition, it currently has 34 national elite courses, 8 national–level teaching centers, and 9 national-level teaching teams. To date, 26 XJTU dissertations have been recipients of the annual award given to “China's 100 best doctoral dissertations”; another 40 have been nominated for that award.

Research in science and technology at XJTU is directed primarily at meeting the nation's most important needs, forging into international frontiers, contributing to autonomous creation and accelerate industrial application. To this end, XJTU is continually strengthening its capacity to innovate while seeking to raise its level of competitiveness. Since 2000, faculty members and researchers from XJTU have headed 13 projects under the 973 Program. In the same period, university scientists and engineers have had 1,489 projects approved by the National Natural Science Fund. Its total number of basic research projects and grants places XJTU in the front rank among Chinese universities. Since 2000, the university has been awarded 31 national science and technology prizes as the first author. To produce these results, the university relies on its strength in key disciplines and on its unique educational model, with its emphasis on the integration of production, study and research. In addition, it has, in cooperation with the government and with large and mid-sized enterprises, established research and development parks whose aim is to help solve the key technological problems facing industry and to strengthen the contributions of science and technology to the regional economy and of local social development.

Xi'an Jiaotong University has worked hard to create an environment conducive to “dynamic thinking, dynamic learning, and dynamic living.” It owns a national-level center for cultural education and boasts 203 student organizations. It sponsors a rich and varied set of activities in science and technology, literature and the arts, and sports. “Jiuzhou Experts,” “Discussing the World,” “Grand Schoolroom in Siyuan,” and “Study Forum” have become well-known venues in which students can expand their horizons. In recent years, XJTU students have collected awards in a wide range of competitions, including the Asia-Pacific Robot Contest, International Varsity Debate, International Debate Tournament, International English Speech Contest, Asian Area Selection Match for ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, International Mathematical Contest in Modeling, the World Architecture Design Competition for University Students, “Challenge Cup” National University Student Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Work Competition, “Challenge Cup” Business Plan Competition, the National Intelligence Vehicle Competition, “Edison Cup” Technology Innovation Competition, National Aviation and Space Model (research- type) Tournament and University Students Business Plan Competition of Chinese Inspiration Program.

Xi'an Jiaotong University has extensive ties with the world of international scholarship and research. Since 2000, 14 Nobel laureates, 1 Fields Prize winner and over 2,000 foreign professors have been invited to the campus to give lectures. Over 17,000 scholars, CEOs, and high-level government officials from around the world have been involved in exchanges or other kinds of collaborative activity with XJTU. More than 8,000 XJTU teachers and students have gone abroad to visit, study, do research, or participate in degree programs, and over 2,000 faculty members, and researchers have traveled abroad for conferences. The university has built inter-university cooperative relationships with 145 universities and research institutions in 42 countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Korea. Over 900 foreign experts have come to work at the university. In addition, there are currently 1,098 foreign students from over 86 countries studying at XJTU.

Xi'an Jiatong University, which is located in the city of Xi'an in Shaanxi province, has three campuses: the Xingqing campus, the Yanta campus and the Qujiang campus, covering a total area of 1.9894 million square meters. The total constructed area is 2.0385 million square meters. The “Qian Xuesen Library,” named after alumnus Qian Xuesen, which is authorized by the Propaganda Department of the CPC, and whose name was rendered by Jiang Zemin, is located on the Xingqing campus, covering nearly 40 thousand square meters and has 3,518 reading seats. The library collections include 5.0701 million books and 10,053 newspapers and periodicals, of which 4,089 types are current periodicals. The library has also been improving its digital collections, and has recently introduced 252 foreign electronic resources. Its holdings now include 28,639 electronic periodicals in Chinese and foreign languages and more than one million electronic books and 1.07 million e-books and 15 kinds of world famous periodicals covering more than one hundred years. The library's computer system is fully integrated with the campus network, CERNET, and the Internet. On and off-campus users have access to the system via remote terminal or over the Internet. The university's computer network meets the highest international standards. Students are housed in modern dormitories and may choose from a wide variety of dishes in the university's extensive dining facilities. The Siyuan Student Activities Center, with a total area of over 10,000 square meters, is the venue for a variety of events, and the university's athletic fields and playgrounds are modernly equipped. The university has an extensive system of scholarships and stipends, with scholarships for undergraduates totaling 12 million Yuan per year, and additional annual support in the form of loans totaling 14.4 million Yuan. The university has also established an “innovation fund” to provide support for graduate students. Each year, it distributes about 50 million Yuan. The university has a modern psychological health education and counseling center for university students.

On June 5, 2009, Premier Wen Jiabao visited the university, meeting with teachers and students. Those present will always remember and cherish his words: “May one hundred-year old XJTU remain young and energetic forever!” XJTU alumnus Jiang Zemin has returned to his Alma Mater four times and has spoken of it with words of praise: “With its verdant pines and cypresses, and quiet beauty, the campus is the ideal place to study, the ideal environment to bring forth knowledge, wisdom and new scientists with new ideas.”

In this new century, Xi'an Jiaotong University continues to renew itself to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of higher education, domestically and internationally, gradually evolving a model of higher education that is suited to international developments, while constructing at the same time a modern scientific approach to policy-making, policy execution and supervision, so as to provide the university with a management structure meeting international standards. Together, the two lay a firm foundation for building Xi'an Jiaotong University into a top-flight international university.

School motto:

“Rigor, integrity, determination and loyalty.”

Mission:

Cultivate upstanding, industrious and truth-seeking talents with a strong sense of social responsibility and a commitment to scientific inquiry and innovation. Commit itself to the advancement, preservation, application and dissemination of knowledge, so that it may contribute to the progress of science and technology, and the betterment of human society in China and the world at large.

Vision:

Fulfill its three-pronged mission of education, research, and social service and achieve prominence. By the middle period of 21 century, become a world-class research university honored at home and respected throughout the world, where prestigious teachers and talented students gather.