Founded in 1956, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, or CDUTCM, is one of the four earliest-established higher education institutions in Traditional Chinese Medicine since the founding of People’s Republic of China. It took on its current name as Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1995, before then it was called Chengdu Chinese Medicine College. CDUTCM has developed into a fully-fledged university co-administered by the People’s Government of Sichuan Province, China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM), and is listed under the Double World-Class Project of China.

   CDUTCM covers an area of 1,800 mu (1,800 mu approximately equals to 120 hectares). Today, the University offers 38 undergraduate programs in 19 colleges, with a total of 26,000 enrolled students on campus, among whom 4,800 are graduate students.

   CDUTCM was one of China’s earliest TCM universities to conduct master and PhD degree programs in Chinese Medicine, and was among China’s earliest pilot universities in master and PhD degree programs of clinical medicines. The University now has three PhD programs of first-level disciplines, 29 PhD programs of second-level disciplines, 8 master programs of first-level disciplines, 63 master programs of second-level disciplines, and 3 post-doctoral research centers.

   CDUTCM has one discipline listed under the Double World-Class Project of China (Chinese Materia Medica), four national key disciplines (Chinese Materia Medica, Acupuncture and Tuina, Chinese Otorhinolaryngology, Chinese Gynecology), two disciplines listed under the Double World-Class Project of Sichuan Province (Chinese Materia Medica, Chinese Medicine), forty-four ministerial and provincial-level key disciplines and two disciplines enlisted in Top 1% of ESI global rankings (Pharmacology and Toxicology, Clinical Medicine).

    The University boasts its four TCM Masters, five National Renowned TCM Doctors, five National Renowned Teachers, one full member of Russian Academy of Engineering and Natural Sciences, two National TCM Distinguished Contribution Awards, one chief scientist of China’s 973 Project, three National Outstanding Professionals in Science and Technology, and fourteen experts enlisted in the Qihuang Project. Moreover, there are eighteen national high-level talents enlisted in the programs, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Outstanding Young Scholars, the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Prominent Young Scholars, and national extinguished experts. Meanwhile, CDUTCM is listed under OEI for Disciplinary Innovation in Universities.

   Since its foundation, the University has cultivated a large number of talents in Chinese Medicine, including the earliest undergraduate students in Chinese Medicine and Chinese Materia Medica and graduates in Master’s degrees of Chinese Medicine. The University has the first PhD student and first post-doctoral researcher specialized in Chinese Materia Medica, and the first PhD student in Chinese Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology in China.

   The University now has 11 national first-class majors, 14 provincial-level first-class majors, 7 national first-class courses, 98 provincial first-class courses, 3 national excellent teaching teams and 5 provincial excellent teaching teams. In the past five years, 3,456 research projects of various kinds have been conducted, including 306 state-level projects such as the National Program on Key Basic Research Project, the National Natural Science Foundation and the National Social Science Foundation. It has won 87 science and technology awards at all levels, including 1 Outstanding Contribution Award in Science and Technology of Sichuan Province, 1 Outstanding Youth Award in Science and Technology Innovation of Sichuan Province, 1 International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of Sichuan Province, 6 first prizes and 12 second prizes of provincial science and technology awards.

   CDUTCM now has 81 laboratories of all levels and types, including the State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resource co-built by Sichuan Province and the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, the National Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for the Processing of Chinese Medicinal Decoction Pieces, the National Germplasm Resources Bank of Chinese Traditional Medicine (Sichuan), the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, the Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education, the Key Laboratory of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and so on.

   The Affiliated Hospital of CDUTCM (TCM Hospital of Sichuan Province) is the national inheritance and innovation center and clinical research center of Chinese Medicine, the provincial clinical medical research center of Chinese Medicine in endocrinology and metabolic diseases, the clinical medical research center of cardiovascular and cerebral diseases of traditional Chinese medicine, and the evidence-based medicine center of Chinese Medicine. The University currently has 4 directly affiliated and teaching hospitals, 8 non-directly affiliated hospitals, 4 directly administered hospitals and 103 hospitals as members of the Medical Association. The University has established the TCM Development Alliance of Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-city Economic Circle, the TCM Universities Alliance of Western China, and the TCM Health Industry Technology Innovation Alliance of Sichuan Province.

   The University has established exchanges and cooperation with universities, medical institutions, scientific research institutes and academic organizations from more than 50 countries and regions. It is a university being designated by China Scholarship Council (CSC) to offer a wide range of Chinese Government Scholarship programs. The University has set up its branch colleges in Portugal, South Africa and Canada, and established the International College of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Macao) jointly with Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao. It has established branch hospitals of the Affiliated Hospital of CDUTCM in Montenegro, Germany and Belarus. Moreover, the University has set up the China-Montenegro Traditional Chinese Medicine Center in Montenegro and the China-Tajikistan Traditional Medicines Center in Tajikistan. It is the China-Asean Education and Training Center designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, the International Science and Technology Cooperation Base listed under the Ministry of Science and Technology, the International Cooperation (Education and Healthcare) Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Human Reproduction Research Cooperation Center of the World Health Organization, and the South-South Cooperation and Training Center of the United Nations Population Fund.

   During the ongoing 14th Five-Year Plan period, the University upholds accelerating the  Double World-Class construction as the core, adheres to the three development strategies of “strengthening the University with talents, improving the quality and developing with characteristics”, and sticks to the path of “high-quality, high-level, high-efficiency and strong-strength development”. The University strives to build a world-class TCM university filled with endeavors, happiness, fairness and kindness through creating a new landscape of high-quality development in all respects.