China Agricultural University (CAU), directly subordinated to the Ministry of Education, is one of the top ranked key national universities in China. CAU President is appointed by the Central Government.
As the oldest agricultural higher education institution in China, CAU’s history can be dated back to October 1905, when the College of Agriculture was founded by the Qing Dynasty in the Jing Shi Da Xue Tang (the former Imperial University of Peking and the present Peking University).
When the People’s Republic was established in 1949, Beijing Agricultural University (BAU) was founded by merging of three colleges of agriculture, namely College of Agriculture of Peking University, College of Agriculture of Tsinghua University and College of Agriculture of North China University. Beijing Agricultural Mechanization College (BAMC) was established in 1952 by joining together BAU’s Department of Agricultural Machinery, North China Agricultural Machinery College and the Ministry of Agriculture’s Tractor School. BAMC was renamed Beijing Agricultural Engineering University (BAEU) in 1985. Finally in 1995, China Agricultural University was formed by merging BAU and BAEU. The former Chinese President JIANG Zemin penned CAU’s name in Chinese calligraphy.
CAU's Centennial Celebration and World Agriculture Congress were grandly opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 16 September 2005. The World University Presidential Forum as the main component of the Congress was also opened on the same day. More than 300 delegates of 128 universities, colleges and institutes from 24 countries actively participated in the event, marking it a milestone in CAU’s history.
CAU owns a total campus area of 157 hectares, of which constructed area is over 1.22 million square meters.
