Project 985 (Chinese: 985工程; pinyin: Jiǔbāwǔ 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. The name derives from 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, the original 9 founding member universities of Project 985 formed 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.
In September 2017, a related plan called the Double First Class University Plan was announced. It was unclear whether this plan represents a new way of ranking universities in China, or replaces Project 211 and Project 985.
List of sponsored universities
There are 39 universities sponsored by Project 985. The project also assigned funding to each university.
Peking University (RMB1.8 billion)
Tsinghua University (RMB1.8 billion)
Zhejiang University (RMB1.4 billion)
Nanjing University (RMB1.2 billion)
Fudan University (RMB1.2 billion)
Shanghai Jiao Tong University (RMB1.2 billion)
Xi'an Jiaotong University (RMB900 million)
Harbin Institute of Technology (RMB1 billion)
University of Science and Technology of China (RMB900 million)
Beijing Normal University (RMB1.2 billion)
Beijing Institute of Technology (RMB1 billion)
Beihang University (RMB900 million)
Central South University (RMB400 million)
Minzu University of China (RMB500 million)
Renmin University of China (RMB500 million)
China Agricultural University (unknown)
Chongqing University (RMB540 million)
Dalian University of Technology (RMB400 million)
East China Normal University (RMB600 million)
Huazhong University of Science and Technology (RMB600 million)
Hunan University (RMB400 million)
Jilin University (RMB700 million)
Lanzhou University (RMB450 million)
Nankai University (RMB700 million)
Northwestern Polytechnical University (RMB900 million)
Northeastern University (RMB400 million)
Northwest A&F University (RMB450 million)
Ocean University of China (RMB300 million)
Southeast University (RMB600 million)
Shandong University (RMB1.2 billion)
Sichuan University (RMB720 million)
South China University of Technology (RMB400 million)
Sun Yat-sen University (RMB1.2 billion)
Tianjin University (RMB700 million)
Tongji University (RMB600 million)
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (RMB360 million)
Wuhan University (RMB800 million)
Xiamen University (RMB800 million)
National University of Defense Technology (unknown)