Yibin University

Yibin University, referred to as Yiyuan, is a full-time undergraduate public provincial higher education institution in the China, located in Cuiping District, Yibin City, Sichuan Province. The school is under the supervision of the Sichuan Provincial People's Government, and implements a city-based school-running system jointly established by the Sichuan Provincial People's Government and the Yibin Municipal People's Government.

The history of Yibin College can be traced back to the Yibin Normal College founded in 1978. After restructuring and the accumulation of academic resources since the reform and opening up, it merged with the Yibin Branch of Sichuan Institute of Education on May 11, 2001, to form Yibin College, becoming the first institution of Yibin City. The first undergraduate college; and gradually transformed from a school focusing on teacher education into a multi-disciplinary applied comprehensive university, cultivating a large number of talents for the development of various fields in Yibin City. Yibin University has also formed an "innovative, applied and international" school-running pattern, recruiting undergraduate and junior college students from 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in mainland China, and also recruiting international students from South Asia and Southeast Asia.^[2][3]

In 1975, Sichuan Normal College established a pilot class called "Come and go" in Maiba Township, Lizhuang District, which was named as the Yibin Branch of Sichuan Normal University. This was the predecessor of Yibin College. In June 1977, the school was restructured into Yibin Regional Communist Labor University.^[4] On December 28, 1978, the State Council of the People's Republic of China approved the establishment of Yibin Normal College on the basis of Yibin Regional Communist Labor University. At that time, the campus was located in Baimiao Village, Maiba Township, Nanxi County (now Li Zhuang Town, Cuiping District, Yibin City), and three majors were approved.^[5] In 1985, the school relocated to Jiangbei, Qiaoxi Bay, Yibin City (now Anfu Street, Cuiping District).^[4] In 1993, the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China approved the renaming of the school to Yibin Normal Higher Vocational College.^[6] In May 2001, the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China agreed to integrate the educational resources of Yibin Normal Higher Vocational College and the Yibin Branch of Sichuan Education College to establish Yibin College at the undergraduate level.^[7]

With the completion and opening of the waterfront campus in the Sanjiang New Area University City, Yibin University has also begun to strive for the granting of master's degree awarding units and discuss upgrading to a university, in order to promote the development of science and technology innovation industries and educational undertakings in Yibin City.^[8]

In 1985, the People's Government of Sichuan Province agreed to relocate Yibin Normal Higher Vocational College to Qiexi Bay on the north bank of the Min River in Yibin City, and the construction of the campus began. In August 1987, Yibin Normal Higher Vocational College relocated from Lizhuang Town to the Jiangbei Campus in Qiexi Bay (now located at No. 8 Jiusheng Road, Anfu Street, Cuiping District),^[5] which is divided into A and B areas. The A area also serves as the location of the college headquarters, while the B area is located at its southern end. The campus is situated in a mountainous terrain, with the elevation gradually increasing from the southern corner to the north. The campus boasts rich vegetation and a pleasant environment, with a modern architectural style. It has been awarded honors such as "Outstanding Unit in Campus Civilization Construction", "Advanced Sanitation Unit", "Garden-style Unit", and "Top 100 Greening Units in Sichuan Province". However, there is a lack of open space at key landscape nodes, which has to some extent affected the campus atmosphere. The college campus is served by external transportation routes such as Yibin Public Bus Route 22, providing convenient transportation for faculty and students to travel to various places.^[9][10][11]

In addition to its main campus, Yibin University has also constructed a waterfront campus in the Sanjiang New Area University City. The first phase of construction was completed on December 31, 2019. Departments such as the Tea College, Intelligent Manufacturing College, Big Data and Software College, Quality Inspection College, and Transportation Service Engineering College have been relocated to the waterfront campus. The architectural style of the campus reflects a blend of Eastern and Western cultures.^[12] This campus is adjacent to the Yibin Graduate School of Xihua University, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu College of Sichuan International Studies University, and Chengdu University of Technology among other higher education institutions in Yibin. It can be accessed via the Yibin Intelligent Rail T1 Line to travel between downtown Yibin and the Chengdu-Guizhou Intercity Bus Line Yibin West Station.^[13][14]

When the school was founded in 1978, Yibin Normal College had only three majors: Chinese, mathematics and physics.^[5] In the future, as the enrollment scale expanded and the needs of actual development, the number of subjects continued to increase. As of 2022, Yibin University has 13 departments and 3 secondary colleges, offering a total of 63 undergraduate majors, including 1 national first-class undergraduate major, 9 provincial first-class undergraduate majors, and 6 provincial applied demonstration majors; The disciplines established have certain local characteristics and application.^[15][16]

Yibin University Library was established at the beginning of the school's founding, with a collection of over 11.53 million volumes of various books. In addition, the library subscribes to multiple databases such as CNKI, Wanfang Database, and Superstar Academic Video Database. The library also has a collection of liquor culture and has created a local literature exhibition room. The library has also been open to the public in Yibin City and has hosted special lectures and academic research activities.^[5][18] In 2022, the Sichuan Provincial Local Chronicles Institute established a branch at the university to collect and preserve local documents of Yibin and display local information.^[19] The "Journal of Yibin University" is a comprehensive academic journal sponsored by Yibin University. Its predecessor was the "Journal of Yibin Teachers College", which was founded in October 1981. It was temporarily suspended in May 1982 but later resumed. In 2001, it was renamed following the school's upgrade to an undergraduate institution. The journal has columns such as "Research on Sichuan Thinkers" and "Research on Liquor Culture".^[20]

Yibin University also leverages the existing resources in Yibin City and has carried out a series of scientific research projects around the characteristic industries of Yibin, such as Sichuan tea, Sichuan bamboo, camphor, and fermentation food ingredients. The university's Camphor Engineering Technology Research Center has developed practical products utilizing the characteristics of camphor, including antibacterial sprays, air purifiers, cockroach exterminators, mosquito repellents, and hand sanitizers. The Solid-State Fermentation Resource Utilization Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province primarily focuses on developing high-quality liquor, fermented pickles, tofu products, condiments, and other solid-state fermentation foods.^[21] The Sichuan Tea College has achieved significant breakthroughs in the fields of Sichuan tea and Tibetan tea industries through research in the "Sichuan Key Laboratory of Refined Sichuan Tea", among others, and as a result, has been selected as one of the first provincial-level "Modern Industry Institutes" in Sichuan Province.^[22]

Yibin University also collaborates with the local government of Jiang'an County to improve soybean and rice breeding techniques, develop high-quality oil tea and tung trees, and enhance the processing and preservation capabilities of agricultural products. Through training programs, the university has cultivated talents in fields such as e-commerce, integrated rice-prawn farming, and the bamboo industry, contributing to the local community's development.^[23][24]

The guiding spirit of Yibin University is "Continuous self-improvement and pursuit of excellence"; the school motto is "Seeking truth, seeking truth, openness, and innovation"; the school song is "Creating Glory".

Yibin University provides a rich campus life. Since its establishment, students have been actively participating in cultural and sports activities.^[5] Some departments have also organized club activities and competitions through curriculum reforms.^[25]

• Official website