Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and National Development and Reform Commission announced the list of candidates to develop world-class universities and disciplines on 21 September 2017. The selected universities are
- Category A
- Peking University
- Renmin University of China
- Tsinghua University
- Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Beijing Institute of Technology
- China Agricultural University
- Beijing Normal University
- Minzu University of China
- Nankai University
- Tianjin University
- Dalian University of Technology
- Jilin University
- Harbin Institute of Technology
- Fudan University
- Tongji University
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- East China Normal University
- Nanjing University
- Southeast University
- Zhejiang University
- China University of Science and Technology
- Xiamen University
- Shandong University
- China Ocean University
- Wuhan University
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology
- Central South University
- Zhongshan University
- South China University of Science and Technology
- Sichuan University
- Chongqing University
- University of Electronic Science and Technology
- Xi'an Jiaotong University
- Northwestern Polytechnical University
- Lanzhou University
- National University of Defense Technology
- Category B
- Northeastern University
- Zhengzhou University
- Hunan University
- Yunnan University
- Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University
- Xinjiang University