An Overview of Guangxi Minzu University (GXMZU)
Located in Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangxi Minzu University (GXMZU) is a university co-funded by the National Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (NEAC) and the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Established in March 1952, GXMZU traces its roots to the Guangxi branch of Minzu College of China (now Minzu University of China). It was renamed first as Minzu College of Guangxi Province in February 1953 and later Guangxi Minzu College in June 1958, before officially becoming Guangxi Minzu University in February 2006.
Spanning 3,600 mu (approximately 240 hectares), GXMZU comprises three campuses: Xingsihu, Siyuanhu, and Wuming. Nestled in serene and picturesque surroundings, the campuses feature classical-style architecture that blends harmoniously with a rich cultural atmosphere, making the university an ideal destination for academic study and intellectual growth.
GXMZU is equipped with over 72,000 pieces of teaching and research equipment, valued at 642 million yuan. Its library houses a comprehensive collection of 2.83 million print books, and 5.80 million e-books, and has access to 3.74 million e-journals (statistics as of the latest available data).
The university employs over 2,500 staff members, including 793 with senior professional titles and 839 holding doctoral degrees. GXMZU boasts a distinguished cohort of over 100 national and provincial-level talents, such as:
•Recipients of China’s “Ten Thousand Talent Program” (leading scholars in philosophy and social sciences);
•Winners of prestigious literary awards, including the Mao Dun Literature Prize and Lu Xun Literature Prize;
•Experts honored with Special Government Allowances from the State Council;
•National Outstanding Teachers and Rolemodel Teachers;
•“Cultural Celebrities” and “Four Batches” talents recognized by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee;
•Scholars supported by the Ministry of Education’s “New Century Excellent Talents Program”; and
•Distinguished professors under Guangxi’s “Bagui Scholars” program.
Additionally, GXMZU is home to one National Huang Danian-Style Teacher Team, an accolade bestowed by the Ministry of Education.
Leadership Care and Support
In January 1958, Chairman Mao Zedong met with representatives of Guangxi’s ethnic groups at Nanning People’s Park. A Dong ethnic student representative from the university had the honor of presenting flowers to him.
In November 1990, President Jiang Zemin visited the university and praised its beautiful campus, describing it “an ideal place for study and academic pursuit.”
In November 2006, during his state visit to Vietnam, President Hu Jintao met with representatives of our faculty and students who were teaching or studying in Vietnam.
In May 2010, Xi Jinping, then Vice President, visited the university and encouraged students of all ethnic groups to “aspire to lofty goals, study diligently, excel academically, and grow into capable individuals, striving to contribute to China’s development.”
In October 2013, Mr. Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, visited the university.
In April 2017, during his inspection tour of Guangxi, President Xi Jinping met with student representatives of GXMZU at a symposium with grassroots delegates.
In May 2024, Mr. Wang Huning, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, visited the Guangxi Institute for Studies on the Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation at GXMZU.
Talent Cultivation
GXMZU comprises 26 academic colleges or schools, serving a full-time student body of nearly 46,000 and a total enrollment of approximately 66,000 students from all the programs that the university offers. Since its inception, the university has cultivated over 400,000 graduates, including a vast number of ethnic minority officials and professionals.
In terms of educational excellence, GXMZU has received four Second Prizes in the National Teaching Achievement Awards. It offers 8 national-level and 59 provincial-level first-class undergraduate courses. Additionally, the university hosts 13 provincial or ministerial-level teaching platforms, such as the Guangxi Model Modern Industry College and provincial-level centers for practical teaching.
The university’s curriculum includes 8 demonstration courses for “Curriculum-Based Values Education,” 23 Top-Quality Courses, and 4 Top-Quality Video Open Courses. Furthermore, it has established 8 provincial-level teaching teams and 7 pilot virtual teaching and research sections. In the 5th National College Teachers’ Teaching Innovation Competition, GXMZU faculty won 3 Second Prizes and 3 Third Prizes, tying for second place nationally in total award count.
Student innovation is another hallmark of the university. To date, in the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition, GXMZU has secured 4 gold, 12 silver, and 43 bronze medals. This record ranks first among all ethnic universities in China regarding both the gold medal count and the total number of awards.
Disciplines and Majors
The university currently offers 76 full-time undergraduate programs across 11 academic disciplines, including Economics, Law, Education, Literature, History, Science, Engineering, Medicine, Management, Arts, and Interdisciplinary Studies.
Academically, GXMZU features:
•15 national-level and 23 provincial-level first-class undergraduate programs;
•1 postdoctoral research station;
•5 doctoral degree programs in first-level disciplines (Ethnology, Chinese Language and Literature, Foreign Languages and Literature, Chemical Engineering and Technology, History of Science and Technology);
•1 doctoral degree program in a second-level interdisciplinary field (Studies on the Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation);
•20 master’s degree programs in first-level disciplines;
•26 professional master’s degree programs.
Additionally, GXMZU boasts 6 Guangxi First-Class Disciplines (Ethnology, Chinese Language and Literature, Foreign Languages and Literature, Chemical Engineering and Technology, Mathematics, and Law), and 26 provincial or ministerial-level key disciplines. Notably, the disciplines of Engineering and Chemistry rank within the top 1% globally according to the Essential Science Indicators (ESI).
Scientific Research
Dedicated to serving the major development strategies of both China and Guangxi, GXMZU actively promotes organized research and has achieved a series of landmark results in fields such as Ethnology, Studies on the Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation, ASEAN Studies, Law, Applied Mathematics, Astrophysics, Green Chemical Engineering and New Materials, Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, and High-end Equipment.
The university is home to one national-level research platform, i.e., the Guangxi Institute for Studies on the Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation. This institute has been twice designated as a research center jointly built by the United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee, the Publicity Department of CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Education, and the National Ethnic Affairs Commission. Additionally, GXMZU hosts 34 provincial or ministerial-level research platforms, including the ASEAN Research Center and the Flagship Laboratory of Forest Chemical Engineering and Technology Laboratory of the NEAC, as well as 3 provincial-level science education centers, such as the Ethnology Museum.
In terms of research funding, GXMZU has secured Major Projects of the National Social Science Fund of China for nine consecutive years, ranking first among all universities in Guangxi in total count. The university has also received 7 national-level research achievement awards. Notably, the long novel Echoes by Professors Tian Dailin (writing as Dong Xi) won the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award, marking a historic break-through for Guangxi in China’s highest literary honor.
The Journal of Guangxi Minzu University (Philosophy and Social Science Edition) has received numerous accolades, including being named one of the “Top 100 Journals” (National Journal Award), “Top 100 Social Science Journals in China”, and “National Outstanding Social Science Journals of Universities”. It was also included in the first batch of the “National Project for Featured Philosophy and Social Science Journal Columns”. It is indexed in the Guide to the Core Journals of China (PKU Core) and the Core Journals of Chinese Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSSCD Core).
Global Engagement
GXMZU is among the inaugural institutions designated by the Ministry of Education (MOE) as a National Training Center for Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL). It is also designated as a site for Developing Category II Characteristic Programs, a pilot local university for the comprehensive reforms of undergraduate programs under the “Undergraduate Teaching Quality Project.” and one of the MOE’s inaugural Research Centers for Area and Country Studies.
Since establishing Vietnamese and Thai programs in 1963, GXMZU has pioneered ASEAN language education in Guangxi, offering the earliest and most diverse curriculum in the region. Currently, the university offers seven undergraduate LCTL programs: Vietnamese, Lao, Thai, Cambodian, Burmese, Indonesian, and Malay. It houses the most extensive Vietnamese documentation center in China, the Princess Sirindhorn Thai Language Resource Center, and the ASEAN Documentation Center. Furthermore, having established Confucius Institutes in Thailand, Laos, and Indonesia, GXMZU ranks among the top universities in Guangxi for overseas Confucius Institute presence.
Steadfast in serving China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Guangxi’s strategy for opening-up and development, the university has established substantive partnership with 202 universities or institutions across 26 countries and regions. To date, it has educated over 27,000 international students from 87 countries or regions while facilitating study-abroad opportunities for nearly 20,000 domestic students.
In recognition of close diplomatic ties, the university has awarded honorary doctoral degrees to H. E. Hun Sen, former Prime Minister of Cambodia, and H. E. Thongloun Sysoulith, President of Laos. The university has welcomed numerous prominent ASEAN dignitaries, including former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, former Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, Lao President Thongloun Sysoulith, former Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, and current Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone.
Social Services
The university has been dedicated to addressing major industrial development needs by deepening industry-university-research collaboration, contributing to 13 provincial-level research platforms such as the Joint AI Innovation Center.
Notable academic achievements include:
•A patent for the “Anti-Tumor Drug R & D” project was licensed to pharmaceutical companies for 46 million yuan, setting a new record for technology transfer in Guangxi in recent years.
•The “Key Technological Innovation and Product Development of Microbial Organic Fertilizer” project has achieved international leadership in the biosynthesis regulatory mechanisms and directed breeding technologies of wuyiencin.
•The “Marine Data Perception and Encryption Key Technologies and Their Application in the Maritime Internet of Vessels” project has addressed critical technological bottlenecks in marine sensors, asynchronous circuit RSA encryption, and marine vessels networking algorithms, achieving technological breakthroughs in sensitive devices and core systems and restrictions on high-end components, with overall technologies reaching an internationally advanced level.
Leveraging the Guangxi Institute for Studies on the Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation, a national-level research platform, GXMZU has conducted over 100 training programs for Party Committees, government departments, and ethnic communities across Guangxi and beyond, training approximately 160,000 participants. These initiatives contribute to a comprehensive public communication framework for enhancing the sense of community for the Chinese Nation.
Committed to its founding mission of “nurturing capable teachers for ethnic regions and solidifying the foundation for ethnic solidarity”, the university has developed an teacher training philosophy centered on “ethnic roots and teaching competence,” producing tens of thousands of educators for primary education, including Mo Zhengao, a 2015 “Touching China” Award laureate. Upholding the volunteer spirit of “dedication, friendship, mutual assistance, and progress”, faculty and students have provided long-term volunteer services to the China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit. With these efforts, GXMZU has been selected as one of Guangxi’s first exemplary cases for innovatively strengthening Party leadership.
Cultural Initiatives
Cultivating “Revolutionary Culture” as the Soul
Integrating regular CPC history and discipline education with practice platforms like “I Grow with My Country” theme activities, GXMZU leverages on-campus and off-campus revolutionary heritage resources and Party spirit education centers, to deepen loyalty to the Party, temper ideals and convictions, and reinforce the university’s original mission.
Nurturing “Green Ecological Culture” for the Heart
Firmly upholding and practicing the ecological philosophy that “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” the university optimizes campus landscapes and advances green, energy-saving, and low-carbon initiatives. It leads faculty and students in a joint effort a build an eco-friendly campus, fostering a deep appreciation for sustainability.
Inspiring Vision through “Community Culture"
Relying on thematic campus landscapes (e.g., the Garden of the Chinese Nation Community, Solidarity Garden, Harmony Garden, and International Garden), and cultural venues (e.g., the University History Museum, the Museum for the Sense of Community, the Language Museum, and the ASEAN Cultural Exchange Center), the university conducts experiential education. These platforms translate the abstract concepts of the Community for the Chinese Nation and the Community with a Shared Future for Mankind into tangible experiences. By creating a holistic, multi-form, and refined cultural environment, the university nurtures an awareness of co-existence and mutual learning, cultivating in faculty and students a strong sense of commitment to both China and the world.
After 73 years of development and the unremitting efforts of generations of faculty and students, GXMZU has evolved into a pivotal base for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese Nation and a premier hub for cultivating outstanding talents from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
It has earned a series of national and provincial accolades, including the National Model for Ethnic Solidarity and Progress, National Education Base for Ethnic Solidarity, National Advanced University for Party Building and Ideological Work, National Model for Civility and Advancement. At the provincial level, it has been honored as a Guangxi Model for Ethnic Solidarity and Progress, Advanced Primary-level Party Organization, and Outstanding Institution for Graduate Employment and Entrepreneurship, among others.
These achievements reflect GXMZU’s active contributions to promoting local economic and social development, safeguarding border stability, serving the development of the China-ASEAN community with a shared future, and supporting the demonstration zone for forging a strong sense of community among the Chinese Nation.
With the new missions entrusted by the new era, GXMZU will embark on a new journey. Upholding socialism with Chinese characteristics and guided by Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the university will continue to implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and its plenary sessions, as well as Xi Jinping’s important discourses on education and his keen requirements for Guangxi’s development.
With forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese Nation as its central task, GXMZU will remain committed to its mission of nurturing talent for the Party and the nation. It will follow the right path while striving for innovation, forge ahead with courage and resolve. It will strive to develop into a distinctive, high-level modern comprehensive university and make new and greater contributions to building a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through a Chinese path to modernization.
(Statistics collected as of December 2025)
