This was done in part due to the government's desire to pool these institutions' resources into a single, stronger entity, cultivate talents with professional knowledge, and promote the development of education in the country.

[citation needed] In the 1950s, the Chinese government regrouped the country's higher education institutions in an attempt to build a Soviet-style system.

From 1972 to 1980 (during the Cultural Revolution in mainland China), five schools including ECNU were merged to create Shanghai Normal University, and in 1980 its original name was resumed.

[citation needed] In 1996, ECNU passed the prerequisites appraisal and became one of universities sponsored by the major national program "Project 211".

In 2006, the Ministry of Education and Shanghai Municipality signed into a partnership for co-sponsoring the development of the university, qualifying ECNU as a member of the "Project 985".

It has been carrying out academic exchanges with over 150 universities and institutions of Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, and Russia, etc.

The programme is organised by the University of Manchester and is fully funded by UK government bodies, such as the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

In this program, consular officials from over 20 countries spend two months during summer studying at East China Normal University.