National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) was founded in 1953 as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Military Academy of Engineering, or Harbin Military Academy of Engineering. Grand General Chen Geng was appointed the first president and political commissar. As it was founded, Chairman Mao Zedong personally issued the “precepts” to the university and wrote the title of “Engineering and Learning” for the school journal. In 1970, the main body of the school moved to Changsha and was renamed Changsha Institute of Technology. In 1978, the school’s name was changed to National University of Defense Technology under direct care of chairman Deng Xiaoping. In 1999, President Jiang Zemin signed an order to re-establish the university. In 2003, he inscribed the motto of the university, “Excel in Virtue and Knowledge; Strengthen the Armed Forces and the Nation.” In 2007, President Hu Jintao encouraged the university to make new and greater contributions to advancing the strategy of strengthening the army through science and technology and building an innovative country. On November 5, 2013, President Xi Jinping visited the school and delivered an important speech, in which he said, “We will accelerate the building of the university into a world-class university with Chinese military characteristics, and strive to turn the university into a highland for training high-quality new military personnel and for independent innovation in national defense technology.” In 2017, the university was rebuilt on the basis of National University of Defense Technology, University of International Relations, National Defense Information Institute, Xi'an Communication Institute, College of Electronic Engineering, and College of Meteorology and Oceanography, PLA University of Science and Technology. The main campus of the university is in Changsha, with other campus built in Changsha, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hefei and other places. (I) Unique status. It is under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission, and has been a key university heavily invested by the state and the military. It was one of the 156 key construction projects in the first five-year plan. It was one of the 20 key universities in China designated by the CPC Central Committee in 1959. It was also one of the first batch of institutions authorized by the State Council to confer master’s and doctor’s degrees, and one of the first batch of universities to run pilot graduate schools in China. It was one of the first batch of universities and colleges to be included in the national “211 Project”, the only military university to be included in the national “985 Project”, and the only military university to be included in the national “double first-class” project.