According to the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) data (January 1, 2012–April 30, 2022) announced by Clarivate Analytics on July 14, Chengdu University (CDU) has achieved a record-high rank of 299th among universities and colleges on the Chinese mainland, climbing by 126. It ranked 3,912nd across the globe. There have been over 100 ESI highly cited papers in the top 1% of citation frequency based on the corresponding field and publication year, making CDU the top 200. Moreover, CDU has 17 hot papers published in the last two years with the top 0.1% of citations in the last two months, ranking top 60 among its competitors, which is a marvelous performance.

CDU has made continuous efforts in natural sciences in recent years, with gradually improved performance in scientific research indicators and newly set records. Engineering discipline has been the first CDU discipline to enter the global top 1% of ESI, marking a ground-breaking achievement. In the latest 2022 Nature Index rankings, CDU ranks fifth among universities and colleges in Sichuan Province, 148th among those on the Chinese mainland, and 648th worldwide. Moreover, Professor Wang Qingyuan of CDU has been listed as one of the Highly Cited Chinese Researchers for eight consecutive years, and four teachers have been included in the Top 2% list of the World's Top Scientists in 2021. For three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021, CDU has received annual R&D funds of over RMB 240 million, with average support of more than RMB 150,000 for each researcher. Moving forward, CDU will further promote its reform and innovation of the scientific research system, increase investment in scientific research, and conduct research in fundamental sciences, application, and key engineering technologies on national, provincial, and municipal major strategies and cutting-edge scientific topics. In doing so, it aims to boost the output and the international influence of scientific research.