The College was founded in 1984 by Professor Deng Ligang and alumni colleagues of Jiaotong University. The predecessor of Jiaotong University was Nanyang Public College, which was founded in 1896. Guangzhou Nanyang Institute of Technology has been strongly supported by Jiaotong University and its alumni for 39 years, and it has inherited and carried forward the school-running spirit of the old Nanyang people.

The Alumni Association of Guangdong Jiaotong University (Xi Jiaotong University, Southwest Jiaotong University, Beijing Jiaotong University and Shanghai Jiaotong University) was established in 1984. As the predecessor of Jiaotong University was Nanyang Public School, it was named "Nanyang". It means inheriting the fine tradition of running a school, and it is also the embodiment of the humanistic spirit of Jiaotong University-drinking water and thinking about the source.