Xi'an University of Technology — guide for international students

Xi’an University of Technology (西安理工大学, usually shortened to XAUT or XUT) is a public university in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province, that describes itself as a comprehensive university “featuring mainly in science and technology”. It dates its establishment to 1949 and traces its two predecessor institutions — the Beijing Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Shaanxi University of Technology — back to 1919 and 1937. The two schools merged in 1972 to form the Shaanxi Institute of Mechanical Engineering, and the institute was renamed Xi’an University of Technology in 1994.

The university is jointly built by Shaanxi Province and the central government; administration passed to the province in 1998 when the Ministry of Machinery Industry was dissolved. It is included in the national Midwest Higher Education Revitalization Plan and presents itself as a “double first-class” cultivation university — that is, a university being built towards national first-class status, not one of the universities already on the national Double First-Class list.

XAUT teaches more than 28,000 students across 17 colleges and one teaching department, with 68 undergraduate majors (32 of them designated national first-class majors), 15 first-level disciplines authorised to award doctorates and 27 authorised to award master’s degrees. The staff numbers 2,650, of whom 1,009 hold senior academic titles. Six fields — engineering, materials science, environment and ecology, computer science, chemistry and agricultural sciences — sit in the ESI global top 1%.

The international student body is small and the teaching language is Chinese: the university reports more than 100 students from more than 20 countries, and its admission guide asks for an HSK certificate at every degree level. If you want a large English-taught international cohort, this is not that university; if you want an affordable engineering degree in an ancient capital with a strong water-and-energy research base, it is worth a look.

Xi’an University of Technology admits international students to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. Its international pages describe a single route for all three levels: applications run from March to May each year with a deadline of 31 May, and a non-refundable application fee of RMB 400 (USD 60) is transferred to the university’s Bank of China account before the file is considered. Age limits apply at every level — 18 to 30 for bachelor’s applicants, 18 to 35 for master’s applicants and 18 to 40 for doctoral applicants. Teaching is in Chinese: the guide asks undergraduate applicants for HSK level 4 and asks master’s and doctoral applicants for an HSK certificate too, and XAUT does not publish a list of English-taught degree programs for international students, so treat Chinese proficiency as a requirement rather than an option. The university also does not advertise a non-degree Chinese-language course, foundation year or exchange program for self-funded international students on these pages, which is why the non-degree section below is empty — if you need a language year before degree study, ask the International Cooperation and Exchange Office whether one can be arranged. XAUT publishes its admission and application pages as standing guides rather than dating them to a single year, so the figures below are the ones on the guide for the 2026 intake; check the same pages for the cycle you are applying in, because the university can change a fee without reissuing a dated notice.

Degree programs

Select a degree level to see tuition, duration and entry requirements.

Non-degree programs

Documents to prepare

Application timeline

These are the dates Xi'an University of Technology published for the 2026 intake. That cycle has closed. Use them as a guide to when each step falls in the year, and check the official pages for the 2027 dates before you plan around them.

XAUT publishes two funding routes for international students, and one important rule that governs both: a student can hold only one scholarship at a time. New applicants apply for the university’s own scholarship when they apply for admission; the Xi’an city scholarship is applied for after admission and is awarded by university assessment, and it covers only the first year of enrolment — from the second year onwards the holder goes back onto the university scholarship. Scholarship holders also have a monthly obligation: the scholarship approval form (留学生奖学金审批表) has to reach the International Affairs Office, Room 205, before the 5th of each month, or the monthly allowance is suspended. The university’s scholarship page does not mention the Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC) or a Shaanxi provincial government scholarship, so if you intend to apply through a CSC channel, ask the International Cooperation and Exchange Office whether XAUT takes CSC students before you build a plan around it.

XAUT is a research university of the applied-engineering kind: its reputation rests on water, energy and manufacturing rather than on breadth. It holds one state key laboratory and one national engineering research centre, two national discipline innovation and intelligence introduction bases, two Ministry of Education key laboratories, two Ministry of Education engineering research centres, a Ministry of Science and Technology technology promotion centre, a Ministry of Education collaborative innovation centre and a State Forestry Administration key laboratory — 51 research bases in all — alongside 11 post-doctoral research stations. Over the past decade the university reports RMB 3.4 billion in research funding and 261 research awards at provincial, ministerial or national level. For a prospective doctoral or master’s student the practical signal is the subject table: water resources is ranked 51–75 in the world, instruments science and technology and mining and mineral engineering 76–100, and metallurgical engineering 101–150 in the ShanghaiRanking Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2026.

XAUT reports cooperation and exchange relations with 78 universities and research institutions in more than 30 countries and regions, naming Germany, Japan, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand among them. It runs an International School of Engineering offering undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs, and it was among the first group of universities funded under the China Scholarship Council’s “Outstanding Undergraduate International Exchange Program”, which sends Chinese undergraduates abroad on CSC funding. The inbound side is modest by Chinese standards — more than 100 international students from more than 20 countries — so expect a small international community and Chinese-speaking classmates rather than a large English-speaking cohort.

Xi’an University of Technology says it has produced more than 200,000 graduates, and its hiring reputation inside China sits in the industries it was built for: water conservancy and hydropower, equipment manufacturing, materials, and printing and packaging. Shaanxi’s state-owned engineering and power companies and Xi’an’s manufacturing base are the natural employers, and a Chinese-taught degree from XAUT is understood by them. The university does not publish a careers service page in English or describe what support international graduates get, so ask the International Cooperation and Exchange Office directly what is available — and ask early about the rules on internships and on converting a student residence permit into a work permit, since those are national rules the university applies rather than sets.

XAUT is spread over three campuses in Xi’an — Jinhua, Qujiang and Lianhu — plus a university science and technology park. Qujiang, opened in 2002, is the newest and largest by area, holds around 10,000 students and is reachable on Xi’an Metro Line 5, which has a station named for the campus. Xi’an itself is the practical draw: an ancient capital with a low cost of living, a dense metro network and one of the largest student populations of any Chinese city. The university publishes little about student life in English, so the detail below is what it and its campus descriptions do state; ask the International Cooperation and Exchange Office about which campus your college teaches on before you arrange anything, because the campuses are not adjacent.

Accommodation

Dining

The Qujiang campus facilities include a student canteen, as do the older campuses. XAUT does not publish canteen prices, opening hours or information about halal or vegetarian provision on its international pages, so ask the office if you have dietary requirements. Off campus, Xi’an is one of the cheapest and best-known food cities in China, and the areas around the campuses are well supplied with small restaurants.

Facilities

Reach the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange (国际合作与交流处), Xi’an University of Technology — international student affairs are handled at the International Affairs Office, Room 205 for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Xi'an.