According to the official website, the 2 1 1 project of the Ministry of Education refers to the construction project of about 100 colleges and universities and a number of key disciplines facing the 2 1 century. The "985 Project" refers to the major decision made by the Chinese Production Party, People's Republic of China (PRC) and the State Council at the turn of the century to build a world-class university. Shanghai and university of international business and economics are not included in these two projects.

University of international business and economics is a key university with distinctive features, with six disciplines, including economics, management, literature, law, science and engineering. It is the only foreign-related business university in East China. The school, formerly known as Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, was founded in 1960. It is one of the first two undergraduate universities established by the former Ministry of Foreign Trade, and is known as the "cradle of foreign trade talents in China".