Beijing Jiaotong University (Chinese: 北京交通大学; pinyin: Běijīng Jiāotōng Dàxúe), formerly known as Northern Jiaotong University (Chinese: 北方交通大学; pinyin: Běifāng Jiāotōng Dàxúe; 1949–2003), is a university in Beijing, China. The university is one of the National Key Universities directly under the Ministry of Education and its campus is located in the vicinity of Xizhimen in Beijing in the Haidian District. In 1981, the university became one of the first key universities authorized by Chinese central government to confer master's and doctoral degrees, and subsequently to confer titles of associate professors, professors and Ph.D advisors. In July 1994, it was selected as one of the first universities in the Project 211 supported by the central government. The university sits adjacent to Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing Institute of Technology, and National Library of China. The earliest history of Beijing Jiaotong University goes back to the Shanhaiguan Beiyang Railway School and Nanyang Public School, both founded by the government of the Qing Dynasty in 1896.