Southwest University

Southwest University was formed in 2005 from the merger of Southwest China Normal University and Southwest Agricultural University, with roots to 1906. It is a Project 211 institution in Chongqing with around 60,000 students including continuing education, of whom roughly 34,637 are undergraduates. That merger produced an unusual pairing of strengths: teacher education and agriculture. Both connect to Kazakhstan, the second more directly. Kazakhstan is among the world's larger grain producers and agriculture employs a substantial share of the workforce. It is among the larger Chinese universities by student numbers, which generally means broader course choice and established administrative capacity, though it says nothing about the size of the international cohort. Chongqing living costs sit among the lowest of any major Chinese university city.