Xi'an Jiaotong University, a national key university under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, is one of the country's oldest institutions of higher learning. Founded in Shanghai in 1896 as Nanyang Public, it was renamed Jiaotong University in 1921. In 1956, at the direction of the State Council, the university was moved to Xi'an, and renamed Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU). As one of the country's national key universities, it was included in the first group of universities singled out for high priority development under the country's seventh and eighth five year plans. It was also included in the first group of universities to benefit from Project 211 and Project 985, with the goal of becoming a world class university. Under a plan adopted by the State Council in April, 2000, the original Xi'an Jiaotong University was merged with the Xi'an Medical University and the Shaanxi Institute of Finance and Economics to form the new Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Today, Xi'an Jiaotong University is a comprehensive research university offering programs in nine areas—science, engineering, medicine, economics, management, art, law, philosophy and education—with a major emphasis on science and engineering. It includes 20 schools, eight undergraduate residential colleges, and eight affiliated teaching hospitals. XJTU has a faculty and staff of more than 5500, of which 2500 are full-time teachers, including over 1500 professors and associate professors. The faculty includes 21 academicians—nine members of the National Academy of Sciences and twelve members of the National Academy of Engineering--among whom twelve are members of both. The university has had five recipients of national teaching awards. Among current faculty members, 38 have been designated as “Chang JIang Scholars” by the Ministry of Education; 25 have been honored by National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars; 15 have been recognized as national experts who have made outstanding contributions to the nation. An additional 142 teachers have been selected to participate in the Ministry of Education's “New Century Program for Promising Young Talent,” and another 547 have been awarded government stipends for their outstanding contributions to China. Pursuant to its precept that “talent makes the university strong,” XJTU has continues to add to its strength by attracting to the campus leaders in a wide range of disciplines and will continue the process of building its team of top-level talent.

XJTU has a current enrollment of more than 30,000 full-time students, including over 13,000 masters and doctoral candidates. The university offers 78 undergraduate majors, and awards masters degrees in 200 disciplines and Ph.D. degrees in 115. Among these, there are 8 which are designated as first-order key disciplines by the Chinese government, and 37 which are designated as second–order key disciplines. In addition, 115 disciplines are recognized as key disciplines at the provincial and ministerial level. XJTU offers Master degrees 18 areas, including engineering, clinical medicine, business, and MPA; it has 20 research facilities for post-doctoral students, four national key laboratories, four national special laboratories, two national engineering research centers and 59 key research centers and laboratories at the provincial and ministerial level.

Xi'an Jiaotong University's more than 110 years of history have been informed by 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, insists on the school-running characteristic of “high staring point, profound foundation, strict requirement and focusing on practice,” continually carves out and innovates and trains people diligently. Numbering among Jiaoda'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 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, Xi'an Jiaotong University has educated a large group of talented individuals in many fields, and its graduates have achieved distinction in all walks of life.

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 256.78 hectares. The total constructed area is 1.7623 million square meters. The “Qian Xuesen Library,” which is located on the Xingqing campus, incorporates nearly 40 thousand square meters and has 3518 reading seats. The library collections include 4.47 million books and 10,053 newspapers and periodicals, of which 4089 kinds are current periodicals. The library has also been adding to 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. The library's computer system is fully integrated with the campus network, CERNET, and the Internet. On and off-campus users can access 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 wide range of events, and the university's athletic fields and playgrounds are fitted with the latest modern equipment. 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 and met with teachers and students. Those present will always remember and cherish his words: “XJTU at 100 is forever young and will forever remain a source of strength and energy!” 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, and to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of higher education, domestically and internationally, gradually evolving a model for higher education that is suited to developments both domestically and internationally, and 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 adapted to the integrated world of today, and which provides a firm foundation for building Xi'an Jiaotong University into a top-flight international university.