Xiamen University was founded in 1921 by Tan Kah Kee, the well-known overseas Chinese leader honored by Comrade Mao Zedong as the "Flag of the Overseas Chinese and Glory of the Nation." It was the first university in the history of modern Chinese education to be founded by an overseas Chinese. At present it is the only key comprehensive university directly affiliated with the Education Ministry in any of the five special economic zones, and it is one of the higher-level universities designated for the cross-century key construction. Located in the southern part of Xiamen Island, the university has an area of 145.9 hectares in picturesque surroundings, with its campus running along the seashore beneath scenic mountains. At present, Xiamen University has also begun construction of its Zhangzhou campus, with an area of 171 hectares, 3.5 nautical miles across the bay from the present campus. In the past 80 years since its founding, it has graduated over 80,000 students, and over 50 academicians from both the Social and Natural Science Academies of China have studied or worked in Xiamen University.
China's reform and opening to the outside world in 1979 marked the starting point of a new period of development for Xiamen University. National leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Li Ruihuan, Li Lanqing, Qian Qichen, and others have paid close attention to Xiamen University's development, and have visited the university personally. In the early 1980s, the university revamped its mission statement: "Base itself on the special economic zone, face the whole country, take full advantage of its superiority, and gain initiative in providing service."
Xiamen University has successively established inter-university cooperative ties with 59 institutions of higher education in such countries and regions as Britain, the US, Japan, France, Russia, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. With respect to cultural exchange with Taiwan, Xiamen University has an especially favorable geographical location and irreplaceable advantages in human resources. It has carried on active and extensive exchanges by establishing academic ties with 24 universities and colleges, 63 research institutes, and 34 media outlets in Taiwan. It is one of the universities in mainland China most actively engaged in educational, scientific, and cultural exchanges with Taiwan.
In order to meet the competition and challenge of the new century, Xiamen University has set its goal of "building a high-level university well-known both in China and abroad." Xiamen University is now making great strides towards that goal.
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