The five universities in East China, namely Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University and China University of Science and Technology, are the top five universities in East China and the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone on the eastern coast of China, referred to as "Huawu" for short.

Among the five schools in East China, Fudan University and Shanghai Jiaotong University are located in Shanghai, a municipality directly under the Central Government of China, while Nanjing University, Zhejiang University and University of Science and Technology of China are located in the capital cities of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces respectively. The five schools in East China are all national key universities directly under the central ministries and commissions, with the system of deputy ministerial level directly under the central government, the first batch of national key construction universities of 2 1 1 Project and 985 Project, and the first batch of "double-class" world-class universities of Class A construction universities.

Shanghai: Shanghai Jiaotong University (established in 1896) and Fudan University (established in 1905).

Jiangsu Province: Nanjing University (a university directly under the Ministry of Education, founded in 1902)

Zhejiang Province: Zhejiang University (a university directly under the Ministry of Education, founded in 1897)

Anhui Province: China University of Science and Technology (directly under China Academy of Sciences, founded in 1958).