First-Level Discipline

First-level discipline has two different meanings and classification standards in China. One refers to the first-level classification of disciplines in the graduate education of Chinese higher education institutions. According to the Discipline List of Degree Awarding and Talent Training (2011) promulgated by the Ministry of Education, there are 13 discipline categories and 110 first-level disciplines. Urban planning was upgraded into a first-level discipline when the Academic Degrees Committee Office of China’s State Council restructured China’s disciplinary system in 2011. The other is on the basis of the Classification and Code of Disciplines in China (GB/T13745-2009) jointly issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine together with the Standardization Administration, according to which there are 5 discipline categories and 58 first-level disciplines.