Beijing Institute of Technology is one of the national key universities in China, an open, public, research-oriented university with a focus on science and technology. The 10th university to enter the 985 Project, which started in order to develop 39 Chinese universities that would seek to become world renowned universities.One of the first 15 universities to join 211 Project which established roughly 100 universities to cope with the challenges of the 21st century. Annual research fund in 2011 amounts to 160 million Euros ranking in the top 10 in China.

Received more than 130 national awards of science and technology over the past 30 years, ranking among the top 10 in China. According to the first national program evaluation from 2002 to 2004 by MOE, 1/3 of the programs in BIT were evaluated as national key programs.

BIT is one of the 1st universities to run a graduate school and one of the key universities supported by the central government in each Five-Year Plan since the foundation of the P. R. China. BIT receives considerable trilateral supports and endowments under the agreement signed by the Ministry of Education, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, and the Beijing Municipal Government in September 2000.