A publicundergraduate-level higher institution founded with approval of the Ministry ofEducation of the People’s Republic of China and administered by YunnanProvincial Department of Education in the country’s southwest border cityLincang, known for "Noblest Tea Origin, Ever-spring Capital and Health-nourishing Resort", West Yunnan University (WYNU) boasts an educationalhistory of four decades. Compliant to the motto of "Moral Education forTalents", the University is committed to nurturing junior college up toundergraduate levels of "morally excellent, academically grounded, andskillfully proficient" graduates totaling 60,000 to date since its inception.

The WYNU campuscovers an area of 72.27 ha. with a total floorage of 260,000 sq. meters,teaching apparatuses worth CNY 100 million plus, paper-based plus electronicbooks numbering over 800,000 and 210,000 respectively, 175 experimental orpracticum-purposed rooms on campus, and 138 internships or practicing bases offcampus.The University comprises 14 schools offering 28 undergraduate programmes and 58junior college programmes with a total enrolment of over 11,000 on-campusstudents. In addition, there are some 200 international students from Europe,America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Approximately 300 out of the full-timefaculty of some 400 hold master and/or doctoral degrees, including 85 full-time and adjunct professors, and 260 are professional teachers with “dualqualifications”. A considerable number of the faculty are awarded such honorarytitles as “100-1000-10000 National Pacesetters Project” candidates, All-ChinaLeading Scholars of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Accomplishing Youth andMid-aged Specialists, Excellent Teachers, Special Allowance Winner Scholars,Yunling Master Teachers, Prominent Contributor Experts of Yunnan, and theProvincial Allowance Winners.

Forits positioning and growth during the 13th Five-Year Plan of China, WYNU has setits goals of “three featured orientations, four specialized clusters, and fivetargeted projects”. Specifically, its growth is characterized by locality,practicality, and openness; Chinese language, Chinese culture, microfilmproduction, tea planting and processing, bioengineering, in-flight crew and high-speedrail attendant services, Internet of things, unmanned aerial vehicle control,pedagogics and psychology, among many others, are its forte programmes; inthree years to come, it will invite tens of prominent scholars and specialistsat home and abroad, employ hundreds of talented instructors, enroll 15,000students, of which international students will account for around 10%, and growinto an internationally and domestically prestigious, applied borderuniversity.

WYNU is a supporting institution of the Natural Science Foundation of China. Quite afew research institutes have been set up, such as the centers for Studies ofHuman Destiny Community, Newera Chinese Characteristic Ethnic Unity andProgress Undertakings, The Belt and Road Initiative, International Wa Culture,(Domestic) Ethnic Cultures, and The Border Higher Institution. It is China’sfirst core collaborator with the “Center of Ethnic Unity, Progress,Collaboration & Innovation” as well as a key research partner in Humanitiesand Social Sciences under the Ministry of Education, an approved ProvincialThinktank for Studies of Chinese Characteristic Ethnic Unity and ProgressUndertaking, Ethnic Theory and Practice under the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. Brilliant are also our setup of Yunnan Provincial PostdoctoralScientific Research Work Station, Yunnan Provincial Base for Chinese Education,Lincang Campus of Yunnan Preparatory College for Studying Abroad, and theResearch Institute for Chinese Education jointly with Beijing Language andCulture University. So far it has established win-win partnership with scoresof universities in China and beyond.

WYNU has accomplished 56 projects on the provincial teaching quality and reform; won 48 national patents; awarded some 20 prizes for its teaching and researchachievements at the provincial up to ministerial levels; 2 special provincialprizes in social sciences; 2 first provincial up to ministerial prizes, 6prizes of “Gallant Horse” Ethnic Minority Literature; 70 prizes of thedepartmental teaching and research fruition. Over the past five years, 100volumes of monographs and coursebooks have come off the press, and a total of1,500 papers published. Some 100 longitudinal scientific projects have beenregistered, one of which is the state’s major bidding project. Some of theresearchers preside over or participate in national (21) or provincial (73) research projects. A good many decision consulting reports have been publishedin specialized issues of the Accomplishment Newsletter as a Social Science Fundproject and the Special Column of Higher Institution Thinktank of the Ministryof Education as consultancy to the state leaders.

Facingfresh developmental opportunities and any challenge, WYNU will consolidate, inthe growth vision of “innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing”,have a foothold in west Yunnan, serve the whole country, and reach out tosoutheast and south Asia. Also, through leaping, transitional and featureddevelopment, the university will play its part in the national Belt & Roadinitiative and thus fully foster its construction into an “applied borderuniversity well-known at home and abroad”.