Ocean University of China (OUC) is a comprehensive university with particular strengths in oceanography and fisheries science. OUC offers courses in Science, Engineering, Agronomy (Fisheries), Pharmaceutics, Economics, Management, Liberal Arts, Law, Education, History, and Art. OUC has been approved as one of the national key universities included in the list of “Project 985” (for China’s top 40 universities) and “Project 211” (for China’s top 100 universities). OUC is one of the first universities approved to confer PhD degrees, Master’s degrees and Bachelor’s degrees by the State Academic Degree Committee. OUC has three campuses: Yushan Campus、Fushan Campus and Laoshan Campus. The motto of OUC is “Ocean Embraces All Streams; Exploring Promises Reaching Far.”

OUC is the cradle of China’s marine professionals, and it has graduated a large number of competent specialists in marine science for China. 70 percent of Ph.D. holders in oceanography and fisheries in China graduated from OUC. The first scientist to reach the South Pole, the first Chinese scientist to investigate the South Pole on foot and the first Chinese scientist to reach both the North and South Poles all graduated from OUC. 68 percent of the winners of National Foundation Awards for Distinguished Young Researchers in oceanography and 46 percent of the winners of National Foundation Awards for Distinguished Young Researchers in fisheries graduated from OUC.

OUC is recognized as the driving force of China’s marine research and application. OUC boasts a number of research institutions at national level, including National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China (under construction), Research Center for Marine Development of China, National Research Center for Marine Pharmaceutical Engineering Technology, etc. According to the ESI database, OUC has reached the top 1% of the most-cited universities and scientific institutions in eight research fields including plant & animal science, earth science, engineering, chemistry, agricultural sciences, materials science, biology and biochemistry, and environment/ecology. According to the Comprehensive Research Report on Competition in Marine Technology by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, statistics show that from 2009 to 2013, OUC ranks No.14 in the world in terms of the amount of academic thesis published and included in the SCI information retrieval systems. Based on the analysis of 29912 theses on all the 50 journals in fishery sciences from 2009-2014 with impact factor, OUC ranked No.5 in terms of the amount of theses published by corresponding authors.

OUC adheres to the open education, and is implementing international strategy. So far, the university has established cooperative relations with over 180 institutions of higher learning and research institutes in more than 30 countries and regions. In 2005, the International Association of Marine-related Institutions (IAMRI) was proposed and founded at OUC. New members and expanded cooperation programs are continuously added to the list. In 2005, OUC joined in “Sino-US 10+10”, a joint program between 10 excellent universities in China and 10 prestigious universities in the UC system (University of California in the U.S.) In 2008, the Confucius Institute in Texas was jointly established by OUC and Texas A&M University. In addition, OUC has also established Center for Sino-Germany Cooperation in Marine Sciences，Sino-Australian Joint Research Centre for Coastal Management, Sino-Korean Research Center for Marine Development, etc. Currently, the university is promoting the preparation and establishment of the Marine Strategic Alliance with the University of East Anglia and the building of the Sino-Australian Joint Research Centre for Ocean Engineering with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

The 21st century is an ocean-focused century. The developmental goal of OUC is to build a high-level university with international visibility, so as to lay an initial foundation for a research-oriented university as OUC approaches its 100th anniversary. By 2025, OUC will be further developed into a top-level comprehensive research university with strong emphasis in marine sciences. By the middle of this century (or maybe longer), OUC will vigorously press ahead with reform and innovation, while implementing a strategy to make China strong by further developing the ocean, in order to become a world-class university with distinct characteristics by achieving a rapid and sustainable development.