One of the most important higher education bases in China, Shaanxi presently has 160 universities and colleges of which 79 are mainstream government institutions, 12 are independent colleges, 18 are adult training schools and seven are military facilities. The total enrollment is around 1.33 million. About 3,200 of every 100,000 individuals in Shaanxi are enrolled at university or college. This rate is the fourth highest in China and the highest in Western China. After years of construction and development, Shaanxi’s higher education system has significantly increased its key competencies, percentage of contribution to science and technology, and influence both at home and internationally. It has maintained and consolidated its advantages in China and supported the development of China’s and Shaanxi’s economies.

Shaanxi currently has 1,076 research institutes of which 297 are independent facilities at the county level or above, 326 are research institutes at universities and 417 are in medium and large scale enterprises. In addition, in Shaanxi there are 11 national key laboratories, and 50 specialized key laboratories belonging to state departments. Moreover, Shaanxi has gained unique advantages in fields like modern agriculture, electronic and information technology, bioengineering, space technology, new materials and highly-efficient and energy-saving techniques, and has conducted influential research with significant results.

After years of painstaking construction and development, Shaanxi has constructed a large number of teams of skilled senior experts, executives and managers, and professional technicians. At present, Shaanxi has 1.1 million science and technology personnel of all types of whom 93,500 are at an advanced level technically and in terms of specialization. The teams have been continuously developed, expanded and strengthened, and are an essential strength in promoting Shaanxi’s technological innovation and industrialization of scientific research results. In 2013, four expert scholars of Shaanxi province were elected academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. Shaanxi now has 63 academicians, the largest provincial number in the country; 22 are of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 41 are of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.