Shanghai Maritime University

Higher maritime education in China originated in Shanghai. In 1909, the Shipbuilding Department of the Shanghai Higher Industrial School (Nanyang Public School) under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the late Qing Dynasty initiated higher maritime education in China. Wusong Merchant Shipping School was established in 1912 and renamed Wusong Merchant Shipping College in 1933. In 1959, the Ministry of Transport established the Shanghai Maritime College in Shanghai. In 2004, it was renamed Shanghai Maritime University with the approval of the Ministry of Education. In order to better serve the construction of Shanghai as an international shipping center and the development of the national shipping industry, in accordance with the layout and structural adjustment plan of higher education institutions in Shanghai, the main body of Shanghai Maritime University was relocated to Lingang New City in 2008. In 2009, the university held a series of activities to celebrate its centenary.

Shanghai Maritime University is a multi-disciplinary university with a focus on shipping, logistics and oceanography, covering disciplines such as engineering, management, economics, law, literature, science and art. In 2008, the Shanghai Municipal Government and the Ministry of Transport signed an agreement to jointly build Shanghai Maritime University.

It was rated as excellent in the 2004 Ministry of Education Undergraduate Teaching Work Level assessment and the 2006 Ministry of Education English major teaching assessment. In 2017, the total annual funds for science and technology reached 300 million yuan, and a number of national-level scientific research projects and science and technology progress awards at or above the ministerial and municipal levels were obtained.

A two-level management system of the university and the college was implemented. It now has the College of Merchant Shipping, the College of Transportation, the College of Economics and Management (with the Asian Cruise College), the College of Logistics Engineering (with the Sino-Dutch College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering), the Law School, the College of Information Engineering, the College of Foreign Languages, the College of Marine Science and Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences (with the College of Marxism), the Xu Beihong College of Art, the Institute of Logistics Science and Engineering, and the Shanghai Advanced International Shipping College The school has secondary faculties. Of the more than 23,000 students, there are more than 17,000 undergraduates, more than 4,000 postgraduates of all kinds, and more than 700 international students. Of the more than 1,100 full-time faculty members, there are 156 professors and about 60 percent of them have doctoral degrees. The school is committed to cultivating all kinds of specialized talents needed by the national shipping industry. It has sent a large number of graduates to port and shipping enterprises, institutions and government departments across the country and is known as the "cradle of high-level shipping talents".

In 2013, the school established the China (Shanghai) Free Trade Zone Supply Chain Research Institute and the Shanghai Advanced International Shipping College. The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Supply Chain Research Institute combines the construction of the free trade zone with supply chain research to enhance the level of industrial chain construction in the free trade zone, promote the transformation and development of goods trade in the free trade zone to service trade, and at the same time promote the transformation of government regulatory functions. The Shanghai Advanced International College of Shipping adopts an advanced business school operation model in the world, shares resources with outstanding global educational institutions, and strives to build a leading domestic and internationally renowned brand of shipping finance education and an influential base for the output of high-end shipping talents.

In 2008, more than 20 organizations, including the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Urban and Rural Construction and Transportation, Shanghai Maritime University, and the People's Government of Hongkou District, jointly initiated the establishment of the Shanghai International Shipping Research Center. The center, affiliated with Shanghai Maritime University, is a research and consulting institution for the development of the international shipping industry, providing decision-making advice and information services for the government and domestic and foreign enterprises and shipping institutions, and is one of the first "university knowledge service platforms" established by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. In 2014, the Municipal education Commission designated the platform as a "Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center".

The school has established intercollegiate exchange and cooperation relations with more than 80 sister institutions abroad, conducting teacher exchanges, cooperative education, cooperative research, student exchanges, etc. It has established close ties with well-known international shipping organizations/institutions such as the United Nations International Maritime Organization, the Baltic International Shipping Association, and DNV GL. Since 2010, "International Classes" have been established, inviting students from maritime colleges in the United States, South Korea, Poland, Russia, Germany and other countries to study majors such as "Navigation Technology" and "Shipping Management". In 2011, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the school, in collaboration with the Maritime University of Central and West Africa in Ghana, launched an undergraduate program in logistics management and began enrolling students in Africa. This was the first overseas program of a local university in Shanghai to award a bachelor's degree from a Chinese university. In 2012, the university was officially approved by the Ministry of Education to become an institution that accepts Chinese government scholarships for international students.