Xinjiang Agricultural University (XAU) (Chinese: 新疆农业大学; pinyin: Xīnjiāng Nóngyè Dàxué; Uyghur: شىنجاڭ يېزائېگىلىك ئۇنىۋېرسىتېتى) is a higher education institution in Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China.[2] It specializes in courses and research relating to construction in agricultural contexts.[3]
XAU was founded on 1 August 1952, by the PLA generalWang Zhen under the auspices of ChairmanMao Zedong and PremierZhou Enlai.[4] Originally named Xinjiang Eight-One Agriculture College (Chinese: 新疆八一农学院), it was built on the site of a PLA 2nd Infantry Division School. It was renamed Xinjiang Agricultural University on 21 April 1995.[4]
Over the half century, XAU has developed into a multi-level and discipline institution that takes the undergraduate education as the basis with the coordinated development of doctor education, master education, international education, higher vocational education and continuing education.
The campus of Xinjiang Agricultural University covers an area of 1496 acres. It is quiet, beautiful and well known as a garden university since its greenery is so extensive.
In addition, it has two practice farms, called Sanping and South Mountain. The former covers 2,755,800 million square meters and the latter covers more than 4,600 square meters.
There are over 800 faculty and over 20,000 students at XAU. From 1986 to the present, more than 800 long- and short-term foreign students from 20 countries who have finished their study and graduated from XAU in the disciplines of Chinese language, Uygur language, Kazak language, animal husbandry and grassland, etc. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region where XAU is located is a multi-ethnic area.
