Cradle of Outstanding Shipping Talents of New China

Jiangsu Maritime Institute is a full-time higher vocational college approved by the People's Government of Jiangsu Province. It is a high-level vocational college with Chinese characteristics, a national high-quality junior college, a demonstration vocational college in Jiangsu Province, a high-level vocational college construction unit in Jiangsu Province, and the first batch of training institutions for vocational education groups (alliances) recognized by the Ministry of Education. As the first specialized school for training ocean-going crew after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it originated in 1951. Its predecessors include the Seamen Training Class jointly founded by the Ministry of Communications of the Central People’s Government and the All-China Federation of Seamen in 1951, and the Nanjing Water Transport Workers’ Technical School established by the Yangtze River Shipping Administration in 1956.

With a school-running history of over 70 years, the institute has undergone multiple name changes, administrative adjustments, school mergers and upgrading. Its majors have been fully expanded, school-running scale continuously enlarged, educational conditions comprehensively improved, and connotation construction steadily deepened. It has cultivated nearly 200,000 outstanding alumni all over the world, including distinguished figures such as Chen Hongze, the captain of New China’s first ocean-going vessel, Ye Weilong, former Vice President of COSCO SHIPPING Group, and Chen Shaoze, former Director of the Standing Committee of Nanjing Municipal People’s Congress. Renowned as the Cradle of Outstanding Shipping Talents of New China, the institute enjoys a prestigious reputation in the shipping industry.

Three Distinctive Campuses

Located in Nanjing, an ancient city blessed with exquisite scenery and profound history, as well as the birthplace of Zheng He’s seven great voyages to the Western Oceans, the institute has three campuses—Jiangning, Qinhuai and Banqiao, covering a total area of 1,629 mu.

The Jiangning Campus sits at the foot of the picturesque Fang Mountain in the core area of Jiangning University Town, adjacent to well-known universities including China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University and Nanjing Communication University, enabling the sharing of high-quality educational resources.

The Qinhuai Campus is situated in the bustling commercial district of Nanjing with convenient transportation and prosperous business. It houses a provincial university science park, one of the few in Jiangsu’s vocational colleges, integrating education, scientific research, technology transformation and enterprise incubation.

The Banqiao Campus lies along the Yangtze River. It is home to the **Yu Xin**, the only moored training ship among maritime colleges nationwide. It also features the Yangtze River Delta Modern Shipping Technology Public Training Base approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, and the national demonstrative virtual simulation training base for vocational education—the Yangtze River Delta Modern Navigation Technology Virtual Simulation Training Base. A 54,000-square-meter industry-education integration science and technology park is under accelerated construction.

 Integrated Development and Diversified Major Layout

Closely aligning with the safe, green and intelligent development needs of the modern marine transportation industry chain, the institute has optimized its major system. It covers three vertical main lines of shipbuilding, navigation and ship management, as well as three horizontal fields of merchant ships, naval vessels and cruise ships. It has formed four core major clusters: navigation technology, port and intelligent engineering, ship and ocean engineering, and shipping economy and management, together with two supporting major clusters of information technology & artificial intelligence, and cruise & art design, forming a coordinated development pattern of 37 majors in total.

The institute boasts 1 national high-level major cluster with Chinese characteristics, 4 provincial high-level major clusters, 1 major cluster listed in the national Double High-level Plan (Phase II), and 2 provincial high-level major clusters (Phase II). It consists of 11 schools and 1 department: School of Navigation Technology, School of Marine Engineering and Electrical Engineering, School of Ship and Intelligent Manufacturing, School of Economics and Management, School of Information Engineering, School of Cruise and Art Design, School of National Defense Education and Targeted Training, School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, School of International Education, School of Continuing Education, School of Marxism and Physical Education Department, with more than 14,000 full-time students.

Excellent Teaching Staff

The institute has more than 750 faculty members, including over 600 teachers with postgraduate education, 261 teachers with senior professional titles, 598 full-time teachers and 113 doctoral degree holders. Among full-time teachers, 85.10% hold postgraduate degrees, 77.16% are dual-qualified teachers, and 35.93% have senior professional titles.

The faculty team includes 3 national technical experts, 3 transportation vocational education masters, 1 winner of the Wufu-Zhenhua Outstanding Teacher Award, 4 provincial teaching masters, 15 high-level talents of Jiangsu 333 Project, 66 talents of Jiangsu Blue & Green Project, 3 Jiangsu Craftsmen, 1 young expert with outstanding contributions in Jiangsu, 60 enterprise technical executives dispatched by Jiangsu, and 3 winners of the National Tourism Talent Program. Two teachers have participated in escort missions off the Somali coast, and 8 have joined polar expeditions. There are 1 Jiangsu May 1st Labor Model, 1 Nanjing May 1st Medal winner, 1 Nanjing Model Worker, 1 Nanjing high-skilled talent with outstanding contributions, and 3 award-winning college counselors in Jiangsu Province.

In terms of teaching teams and research platforms, the institute has 1 national vocational education teaching innovation team, 1 national teaching resource bank, 1 national curriculum ideological and political demonstration team and 11 provincial teaching innovation teams. It has won 8 second prizes of national teaching achievement awards, 5 special prizes and 9 first prizes of provincial teaching achievement awards, 1 special prize from the Transportation Industry Steering Committee and 1 special prize from the National Ship Industry Vocational Education Teaching Steering Committee. It runs 1 national master skill studio, 6 skill studios at provincial, municipal and university levels, and 1 university model worker studio. Nearly 107 navigation teachers hold senior crew competency certificates, including 44 ocean-going captains and chief engineers, ranking first among national maritime vocational colleges.

Fruitful Scientific Research and Social Services

Equipped with the world’s most advanced KONGSBERG navigation simulators and WÄRTSILÄ intelligent electronically controlled marine engine rooms, the institute is an official examination venue for seafarers’ practical assessments authorized by the Maritime Safety Administration of the People’s Republic of China. It has built a number of scientific and collaborative innovation platforms, including the China Maritime Joint Investigation Laboratory, National Popular Science Education Base, the Belt and Road Applied Maritime Talent Research Institute, waterway transportation safety assessment center, port and terminal safety assessment center, provincial university science park, provincial engineering technology center and provincial maker space.

By implementing the Dark Blue Plan for scientific and technological innovation and improving the institutional system for technological innovation and achievement transformation, the institute promotes the coordinated development of education, science and talents. It has built an open, integrated and collaborative industry-education-research integration platform, including 6 national and 3 provincial industry-education integration (virtual simulation) training bases, as well as 2 national collaborative innovation centers and 5 provincial engineering technology R&D centers.

Focusing on key technologies such as intelligent ships, smart shipping and maritime safety guarantee, the institute serves industrial upgrading and major national projects. It has undertaken 1,327 technological service projects with a transaction volume of 294 million yuan, achieved over 78.62 million yuan in technological transformation, and generated economic benefits of 521.851 million yuan through technical services. It has obtained 7 national natural science foundation projects (2 as principal units), 1 humanities and social science planning project of the Ministry of Education, 1 general and 1 youth project of Jiangsu natural science foundation respectively, and won 2 first prizes of scientific and technological progress awards from the Ministry of Education and 26 provincial scientific research and technological progress awards.

As a Class I maritime education and training institution authorized by China MSA, the institute offers 27 officially approved crew training programs with an annual training capacity of over 30,000 social seafarers. Its training scale, examination pass rate and enterprise satisfaction have long led the nation. It passed the national maritime education quality evaluation with an excellent grade, ranking 5th among maritime universities and 1st among vocational colleges nationwide. Its outstanding seafarers training model won the second prize of national teaching achievement award and was selected as a key task for learning society construction and a national lifelong learning brand project.

Adhering to the national strategy of building a maritime power, the institute cultivates high-caliber navigation craftsmen and promotes lifelong maritime education. It launches high-end training programs such as pilot training, polar scientific research and new energy ship operation, and implements the Western China Seafarers Training 333 Plan to support rural revitalization, training more than 300 western seafarers. It has exported high-quality vocational education to over 5 Belt and Road countries and trained more than 500 foreign seafarers, repeatedly listed as a typical college for social contribution in national vocational education quality reports.

All-round Student Development

The institute is a designated college for non-commissioned officers trained for the Navy, Coast Guard and Army, a modern apprenticeship pilot college, an 1+X certificate system pilot college, and a special training pilot college for on-site engineers in Jiangsu Province. It serves as the leading unit of the aviation & shipping cooperation group for the 1+X certificate system in Jiangsu and a pilot college for internal quality assurance system improvement.

It recruits students from 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government through three admission channels: early enrollment for vocational colleges, secondary vocational college entrance examination and general college entrance examination, covering targeted non-commissioned officer training, art majors, 3+2 college-university joint training, 3+3 secondary-higher vocational transition and Sino-foreign cooperative education. The institute prioritizes high-quality full employment for graduates, with graduate employment competitiveness and salary levels ranking among the top vocational colleges in Jiangsu.

Students have achieved remarkable results in various competitions, including championships and top awards in national seafarers skills competitions, 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal in the 2024 World Vocational College Skills Competition, 9 national first prizes and 48 provincial first prizes in vocational college skills competitions. They have won numerous awards in innovation contests, marine vessel design competitions and art exhibitions, with outstanding performance in social practice and volunteer services. Many students have been awarded provincial outstanding college student honors, and graduates have won national grassroots employment scholarships. The institute has been rated as a demonstration base for high-skilled talent training and an advanced unit for vocational skill appraisal in Jiangsu.

Expanding International Influence

As one of the first domestic maritime colleges to comply with the STCW Convention of the International Maritime Organization, the institute has dual quality management systems certified by China MSA and DNV GL. Its marine engineering technology major has obtained international accreditation from IMarEST, gaining global recognition.

It has established cooperative relations with more than 30 well-known overseas maritime universities and carried out nearly 50 international exchange programs. Joint projects have been launched with Ukrainian National University of Shipbuilding, and the Maersk (China) Crew Training Center has been built in cooperation with Maersk, becoming the exclusive Chinese partner of BSM Germany.

Overseas educational institutions including the Guinea Weili Seamen College and the UAE Zheng He College have been established. The institute has cultivated nearly 400 international students from 22 Belt and Road countries, trained over 670 foreign seafarers in the past five years, and sent nearly 900 teachers and students for overseas exchanges and further studies. It has successfully held seven cross-strait maritime culture festivals in cooperation with Taiwan Longhua University of Science and Technology. Its international school-running achievements have been highly recognized by national and provincial leaders, injecting strong momentum into high-quality international development.

Widely Recognized Social Reputation

The institute is a national pilot college for targeted non-commissioned officer training and one of the most popular maritime colleges in China. It has been included in multiple national top 50 lists including International Influence, Social Contribution and Talent Cultivation Effect, and has received numerous honorary titles at national, provincial and municipal levels, such as National Huang Yanpei Outstanding Vocational College, National May 4th Red Flag Youth League Committee, Jiangsu Civilized Campus and Nanjing Civilized City Advanced Unit.

(Updated on April 29, 2026)